Seeing Double
by actionman81
Summary: Peggy Carter is plagued by visions of someone masquerading as her. Can she fend of her inner demons as well as fight off actual demons that attack her friends?
1. Chapter 1

1948  
Los Angeles  
Howard Stark's residence

Howard and Peggy sat at the outdoor table, under the covered patio, by the pool  
"What do you think, Peg?" Howard Stark grinned over the manuscript that he held in front of her  
"The mystery of the wax museum?" Peggy knitted her eyebrows, "Hasn't that been made already?"  
"It's been years since that was done, and that was the last film to be made with that old, two color process" he referred to the red/green Techniclor system  
"What did you call it when we spoke last?"  
"A remake, Peg" Howard beamed, "Think about it, a story about a pretty young girl who's investigating disappearing bodies in a wax museum"  
"I'm all for a good mystery" Peggy sighed, relenting, "but won't it be rather prohibitive to create all those statues? In the original film, I believe that the original museum burned to the ground"  
"Sure, but we'll work on something. Besides, I want you to see what we've got already"  
"I really have to get back to the office" she meant SSR  
"You mean you have to get back to Daniel" Howard waggled an eyebrow  
"Alright, him, too" she blushed slightly, "But there is an ongoing investigation that needs attending to"  
"Sure it is" he grinned

Later, at SSR Los Angeles, Peggy pored over some paperwork, while Daniel had stepped out to discuss some of Samberly's new gadgetry with him  
Peggy licked her lips, and tried to focus on the papers in front of her. Sighing, she stood and fetched some coffee, not for anyone else, but for herself  
She'd no sooner returned to her desk when she saw another woman sitting in her office chair  
"Bloody hell, who are you?" Peggy stared at the other woman.  
The other woman stood abruptly and stared back at her, her blonde hair tucked under the jauntily placed black beret, which matched her form fitting sweater, and coordinated with her snug jeans.  
"I'm Peggy Carter" she replied with a smile  
"Impossible" Peggy silently thought.  
The other woman, the other Peggy's eyes flitted to the photos on Peggy's desk, "Two boyfriends?"  
Peggy's gaze fell on the photos, side by side among her belongings, one of Steve Rogers before his transformation, and one of Daniel Sousa, in the military, before he was injured and his leg was amputated. She walked towards her chair, and the other woman simultaneously walked to the front of the desk, so their positions had changed one hundred and eighty degrees from when they'd first seen each other.  
"They're – that's someone I used to know" she choked back the emotion with a swallow, "and that's my fiancé" she paused a beat, "Do, do you have a boyfriend?" she countered  
"You could say that," the blonde girl blushed; she lowered her voice, "Do you know Captain America?" she glanced around to see if anyone was listening. Apparently, nobody was.  
"C—Captain America?" Peggy had to sit in her office chair, as she'd nearly doubled over from the memory of Steve's journey and that journey's tragic end, "You and he—you're" she couldn't finish her sentence. It hurt too much, "What exactly do you fancy about him?" she dared to ask  
Blonde Peggy gushed, "He's always ready" Peggy could hear the pride in her voice. She went on, "I have a feeling he was born that way"  
"You, you know him—who he is," Peggy was beside herself with emotion  
She shook her head, "Even though I've never seen the face behind the mask, with or without the guise of Captain America, in my heart I know there could be no disguising his bravery, his courage, his intelligence"  
"I see" Peggy sighed  
Blonde Peggy wasn't finished yet, "One of these days, we will meet without the mask, quite by accident, probably. And we will know each other face to face; and then there will be no disguising ourselves or our feelings"  
"Your feelings" Peggy commented, no longer distraught, or saddened, but rather firm, cold even perhaps, "your feelings" she repeated, her voice even, "You don't know who he is under that mask and you think you can tell the world that you'll no longer disguise yourself and your feelings" she practically spat out the words  
"Well, yes" Blonde Peggy shrugged her shoulders, "When you love someone like that, with your whole heart, with your whole being, there's no way to camouflage that"  
"We seem to be as different as night and day" Peggy noted aloud  
"Perhaps" the other woman, blonde Peggy, smirked  
"Peggy" Daniel strode into the bullpen, only leaning slightly on his crutch. It seemed that the physical therapy had helped him quite a bit, "You're just the person I wanted to see" he smiled lovingly at her  
"Daniel" she began, "Not in front of" she turned to motion to the other woman, but ended up gesturing toward an empty space in front of her desk  
"Not in front of everyone" he nodded, "Got it" he handed her a folder and with his finger, motioned for her to follow him, "I need to discuss something with you" he was suddenly all business  
"Right" she got up and followed him to his office. He shut the door behind them  
"I want you to look at this file, and see if anything stands out" he gently instructed  
Peggy opened the folder and glanced at the material. There had been an apparently violent death of a technician at Isodyne Energy  
"Isodyne?" she guessed aloud, "but they wouldn't have anything to do with" she stopped abruptly, "Zero Matter" she realized  
"We don't know" Daniel shrugged, now in his chair, his crutch hanging on a hook on the wall, "but I figured you'd know what to do with this. Turn the page" he pointed to the folder  
Peggy flipped the page over, a photo of a man, his face covered with what looked like a modified gas mask, stood dressed in black, wielding a pistol  
"That guy" Daniel explained, "was seen that night. Apparently, only a handful of people were in the lab that late, and they weren't working on Zero Matter, but just random things, mundane tasks"  
"How did anyone get a photo of him?"  
"He stuck around to get a good look at his handiwork" Daniel noted, "it's anyone's guess, but either way, the newspapers want to run with the story that he's some sort of new villain, but word got to Phillips", he referred to Colonel Chester Phillips, "and he got them to can the story, only long enough for us to look into it"  
"And?" Peggy wanted to know where all this explanation was headed.  
"You're my best agent" he grinned, "and I don't trust anyone else with figuring out who this guy is"  
"Daniel" she smiled, but then her smile disappeared, replaced by a stern look, "Daniel" her voice was firm, "Tell me the truth"  
Daniel sighed, "You really are the best, Peggy, and I really don't trust anyone more than I trust you, but this guy—he" Daniel hesitated  
"Spit it out, man" she frowned  
"We think – Phillips things that this guy might know you"  
"Because he shot an Isodyne technician?"  
"That might just be the start" Daniel leaned forward over the desk, "I'm worried that if Phillip's hunch is right, then our mystery shooter might come after you"  
"Let him" Peggy squared her shoulders back, "I'll be fine"  
"I know" Daniel smiled weakly, his bravado and professionalism gone for the moment. He reached out his hand over the desk and tried to hold one of her hands in his  
Peggy pulled her hand back, "Daniel, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. You of all people should know that"  
"Yeah" he nodded absently, "That's not why I put myself on this case as well, and asked another agent to come from New York"  
"Daniel" Peggy's reproach was sharp, "I do not need to be coddled like a baby"  
"Fine, you don't, but just hear me out"  
"I'd think that as my fiancé, you'd understand the person I am and-"  
The knock at the office door stopped her from continuing  
"Trust me" Daniel got up and crossed the room  
"Hey, English" Angie Martinelli grinned at her best friend  
"Angie!" Peggy got up from her seat and hugged her  
"Told you" Daniel grinned like a pleased schoolboy with the right answer  
"So you did" Peggy gave him a sidelong glance and sly smile  
"I've briefed Angie on the matter, as much as I've told you" Daniel shut the door and continued, "and based on what we do know about this shooter, having three agents on him might prove more thorough than just one or two"  
"The best way to go about that is to have all three of us separately watch the shooter, a relay, taking turns" Peggy explained  
"Definitely" Angie agreed  
"Angie, you've been observing agents this past year, have you been able to undertake any missions?" Daniel asked  
"Some" Angie's response was brief  
"Jack didn't say much and I wanted to hear it from you" Daniel explained  
"Maybe now isn't the right time for me to go on about that, especially when this yahoo is going around shooting up people" Angie suggested  
"Fine" Daniel smiled at the two women, "I want you both to study this dossier on what we know about the shooter, and meet me here tonight, at" he glanced at his watch, "eight"

Angie went home with Peggy, back to her apartment, since Angie was only in town for the duration of the mission  
"You and Daniel, huh?"  
"Yes, Daniel and I" Peggy blushed briefly  
"So all that stuff about you and Captain America?" Angie nudged her  
"Angie, that was – it seems like such a long time ago, and there's so much more to Steve than what people saw on the outside"  
"You saw his insides, too, I bet" Angie grinned  
"A bit different than you might expect" Peggy sighed, "You see, this is the man I loved" she gestured to the photo of an emaciated blonde boy tucked into the corner of her mirror  
"Him?" Angie gawked  
"Yes, him" Peggy remained firm, "he was strong, valiant, courageous, intelligent, witty- everything a woman could ask for in a man"  
"And yet you're with Daniel"  
"You'll have to call him Chief Sousa when we're back at the office," her straight face broke, "but yes" she smiled, "I suppose I could say the same thing, that there's more to Daniel than simply how he appears on the outside"  
Angie seemed to chew on that information. She sat down on the couch and unpacked her modest suitcase, clothes, toiletries tumbled out, along with pieces of a Luger pistol that apparently could be modified into a long range rifle, complete with stock, barrel and a sight.  
"My" Peggy was impressed with the weaponry, "have you tried using the Walther?"  
"It's good, but I like how this feels in my hand. It's a little large for me, but I like the heft of it"  
"Apparently, so"

That night, Daniel, Angie, and Peggy met at SSR, not in Daniel's office though, but in the façade of the Auerbach Theatrical Agency  
Rose informed them of some late breaking news, "We've had word that the unidentified shooter was in the vicinity of Stark Industries' Labs"  
"Howard" Peggy sighed, "What have you gotten yourself into, now?"  
"Thanks, Rose" Daniel nodded, "that's invaluable information" he turned to the others, "let's go"  
"Daniel, don't you think Rose could be of assistance?"  
Daniel's mind flashed back to Rose flipping an unfortunate one-man band a few months ago  
"Yes, sure, absolutely" he nodded quickly. He turned to Rose, "come on, let's go"

The team of four made their way to a nondescript sedan. Angie looked up and down the car, a disappointed look on her face  
"We don't want to draw attention" Rose explained  
The car drove into the night, Daniel behind the wheel, Peggy beside him, Rose and Angie in the backseat. Angie filled Rose in on what they already knew, while Peggy conversed with Daniel,  
"It doesn't make sense" she thought aloud, "what does Howard have that would have anything to do with Isodyne?"  
"Maybe his inventions were being used by other companies" Daniel suggested, as he kept his eyes on the road, "Samberly was working on something, and I'd picked it up from him just before we headed out. It's something that Stark was working on, and we thought we could fine tune it"  
"Fine tune it?"  
"Well, it wasn't much more than a basic schematics, but it looked pretty self explanatory"  
"Daniel, if you-"  
"Relax, it won't explode, or implode" he put on a laid-back smile, "I hope"  
"You know how to put a girl at ease" she was sarcastic  
Peggy's mind raced through possibilities, "What connects Howard and Isodyne?" she spoke, though no one else seemed to be paying attention. The connection hit her, much like the bag of coins had hit Dottie Underwood months ago during the fight in a bank vault, "Jason!" she practically shouted  
She turned to Daniel, "Jason Wilkes worked at Howard's lab after the Isodyne matter was cleared up and he was free of the Zero Matter"  
"Jason? Wilkes?" Daniel frowned  
"Yes, you know. The man who shot me in order to find out where the Zero Matter was" she spat out the reply  
"I know" he nodded, "I know who he is. I'm just surprised that someone's going after him"  
"He's the only connection between Stark Labs and Isodyne Labs. No one else from Isodyne has gone to work for Howard, and no one from Howard left his lab to go work for Isodyne" she frowned at the speedometer, "can't this bloody thing go any faster?"

They reached Stark Labs with not a moment to spare  
"There's someone on the roof" Rose pointed  
"Great job" Daniel smiled. He hobbled around to the trunk of the car and pulled out what looked like a silver backpack  
"It's a rocket pack" Daniel slipped it on, "and it's how I'm going to get to the roof"  
"And what are you going to do on the roof once you arrive there?" Peggy frowned  
"Apprehend the suspect" Daniel was matter of fact  
"Have you landed from the air on your prosthesis?"  
"Uh, not yet, but there's a first time for everything" he faltered  
"I can't focus on the mission if I'm worried about protecting you" Peggy sighed  
Daniel stopped fastening the straps over his shoulders, and simply stared at her, his jaw slack, mouth open  
"I—I'm sorry, Daniel, I didn't mean – it didn't—shouldn't have" Peggy stumbled over an apology  
"Look, if you want to go after this guy, then go" Daniel shot out the words, "no matter what happens, you're the best person for the job" he shrugged off the rocket pack and held it out to her  
"I am sorry, Daniel" Peggy was quiet  
"Ok, you're sorry" Angie interjected, "Put on that rocket booster, go catch that guy and we'll still make a late dinner"  
Peggy forced a smile, slipped on the silver jetpack and looked up, toward the roof  
"Oh Howard, I hope your plans work better than your results" she flipped a switch on the side of the pack. A fire burst out from under the contraption. Peggy felt like her legs were roasting over an open flame, but she was soon lifted off the ground, and shot upward, toward the roof. She leaned forward, resting on thin air, as she used her body's position to leverage a turn forward. Once she was above the roof, she realized that there was no way to lower to a landing. She was forced to shut the pack off, mid-air, and hope for the best.  
She did just that, flipped the switch back to the off position, and plummeted to the roof below. Thankfully, she was only a couple of feet off the ground, but the pack's weight, coupled with her nearly horizontal position mid-air, caused her to fall onto her back, with the pack cushioning her fall, but smashing against the cement roof.  
The shooter, turned toward her, or rather, to the sound of the shattering rocket pack. Peggy stood and aimed her Walther at him. He in turn, aimed his pistol at her. Peggy stared him down. He was taller than her, lean, as well, with a shock of dark hair sticking out from behind his mask. The mask itself was a modified gas mask. The ports for the gas canisters had been covered by a wire mesh, but the lenses were intact, though she couldn't make out his eyes behind them.  
For the moment, they stood there, a stalemate of sorts, weapons aimed at each other. He shot at her, not hitting her, but shooting her pistol out of her hand. Peggy winced, not in pain, but at the sudden disarmament. Her weapon clattered away on the roof, and she couldn't see it properly in the dark.  
Peggy had come prepared and used a second Walther that she'd strapped to her other leg.  
She took aim, and though her assailant strode forward, toward her, she shot him. She managed to hit his arm, and he dropped the pistol. His weapon, too, made a noise as it rattled away on the rooftop.  
Peggy glanced around. The shooter made his way toward her, and she needed something to beat him away with. Her eyes fell on a piece of pipe. She snatched it off the ground, held it like a sword, and struck her assailant. She hit his shoulder first, but he was only phased a moment. She held the pipe like a bat, and took aim. Her blow struck his head, and shattered the lenses in his mask. She could see his eyes now, dark, and angry. He lunged toward her and grabbed the pipe, wrestling it away from her. Peggy held onto the pipe with both hands, and in the struggle, the two combatants fell to the ground. Peggy put her weight on the man, and in the tussle, a memory shot up to her consciousness  
"Michael, give it back!" young Peggy shouted  
"Here it is, come on, take it!" older brother Michael grinned at her  
In the present, on the rooftop, Peggy shoved the man back onto the ground, effectively slamming his head against the cement roof. He was unconscious for a moment, and in that speck of time, Peggy ripped off his mask.  
"God, no" she uttered  
Lying on the cold, cement, rooftop was her older brother, Michael Carter.


	2. Chapter 2

Peggy was in shock. Her brother, Michael, who she had thought to be dead for years, was lying on the cement rooftop of Stark Labs, in front of her, and had just tried to kill her. The concept, the idea, the reality was so mind boggling that she momentarily wasn't sure what to do.  
Her mind snapped back into reality and she rushed back to the jetpack. She managed to tear off the straps and raced back to Michael. She knew that if he awoke, he might try to kill her, so she bound his ankles and wrists with the straps from the rocket pack.  
Peggy found his pistol, and hers, and slipped them into her waistband. She leaned carefully over the rooftop and shouted down to Rose, Angie, and Daniel  
"You have to come up. My brother is alive!"  
The three of them looked at one another, confused, but Angie started the trek inside the building immediately, with Rose and Daniel close behind her.  
Soon, they arrived at the roof, and were standing around the then-unconscious Michael Carter. He awoke with a start, which startled Daniel, Peggy and Angie, as they saw Michael writhing against his restraints. Rose stood there, staring at the man, ready to beat him into submission if needed.

The four managed to pack up Michael into the back of the car, namely in the trunk, much to Peggy's torn emotions. On one hand, she sorely loved her brother, but logically, she knew that the man screaming and pounding from the inside of the car's boot was not the same man she remembered at her engagement party in Hampstead, England  
"What can we do?" she asked Daniel  
"Right now, there's only two people I trust to fix this" he was grim, "and one of them apparently loves pie"  
"I think I know someone who's better equipped to handle this" Peggy informed him

Peggy rapped on the door with her fist  
"Please wake up" she implored, seemingly to the door  
Finally, the door swung ajar, and a disheveled Edwin Jarvis peered out at them. Ever the gentleman, he wore a robe over his pajamas, but even then, his pajama top's first button was buttoned, his hair, unruly from sleep, had been somewhat tamed, probably as he was walking to the door just now  
"Ms. Carter, and Mr. Sousa, and – hello" he smiled graciously at Angie, Rose, and peered awkwardly at Michael, who stood, still bound, held in place by Rose's firm grip  
"Ms. Martinelli, it's so good to see you again" Jarvis beamed through his sleep deprived state  
"Thanks, Jarvis" she smiled back as the group entered the foyer  
"Do try to be quiet" Jarvis warned, "Ana is still asleep and"  
"Ana is awake" she appeared at the end of the foyer, having come in from one of the hallways. She smiled at the group, "I know it's late, but would you care for some tea, or coffee perhaps?"  
"Ana" Jarvis looked concerned and worried, "really, you should try to rest"  
"Honestly, Edwin" she clucked, "I'm not a china doll to be kept on a shelf" she cinched her robe tighter and pursed her lips at him. She turned to Peggy,  
"He's been like this ever since—the event" she alluded to her having been shot earlier, leaving her barren  
"Mr. Jarvis, I'm" Peggy began  
"Now, now, none of that" Jarvis put on a smile, "let's get you all back to Mr. Stark, as I'm sure this lot hasn't come just to exchange pleasantries with my wife and I"  
Before anyone could refute his statement, Jarvis had delicately guided the group back to Howard's inner sanctum of sorts. The room was much as Peggy remembered the New York residence, a four poster bed, a closet, which she was sure housed various costumes. The less she thought about those, the better.  
Howard was already sitting up in bed, his hair standing on end, his bedsheets rumpled around him, and blessedly for the group, he was alone in bed.  
"Peg, what a surprise" he grinned  
"I do hope we didn't wake you, Mr. Stark, regardless of how unintentional"  
"Nonsense, Jarvis" he beamed and hopped out of bed as if he was a child on Christmas morning  
"What do we have here?" he peered at the trussed up Michael as though the man were, to continue the analogy, a new shiny toy on Christmas morning.  
"We were hoping you could assist us, me" Peggy began, "you know very little about my brother, Michael"  
"Apparently so" he quipped  
"It—well" she choked on the words. Despite the action and adventure of the night, Peggy still was dealing with the fact that the brother she thought was dead, was standing her, alive as anyone else.  
"She thought her brother had been killed in the war" Rose explained, "but – well, he wasn't. So, that's good" she smiled  
"Peg" Howard looked at her with concern, "you need to go lie down"  
"Jarvis" he nearly shouted, though Mr. Jarvis was right there in the room with them, "Sorry- go take Ms. Carter down to one of the spare bedrooms"  
"Yes, sir" Jarvis sighed wearily, not because of his task, but because of his lack of sleep  
He guided Peggy down the hall to another bedroom. Peggy recognized it as the one she'd slept in while recuperating from being impaled by a rebar spike, when Whitney Frost tried to kill her.  
"Thank you, Mr. Jarvis" she smiled warmly at him  
"Of course, Ms. Carter" he returned the smile, headed out the door, and then stopped and turned to face her, "It truly is good to see you again, and I'm so glad that you and Chief Sousa are – going steady?"  
"Something like that" she smiled and blushed  
With that, Jarvis left the room, and Peggy sat on the bed  
Within moments, she opened her eyes. It was only then that she realized that she'd slept on the bed, fallen over to the side, but her feet were still dangling off the bed. She heard a woman talking, an American woman. She sat up.  
"You" Peggy was shocked to find the blonde woman from earlier, back, and now in the room with her. She appeared to be pacing  
"I was wondering when you were going to get up"  
"What?" Peggy frowned and wore a look of confusion  
"You know that you snore like a freight train?"  
"What does that have to do with anything that's going on, and for that matter, how did you find your way in this room, with me?"  
"Do I have to spell everything out for you?" the blonde smirked, "you know what spies are, don't you?"  
Peggy opened her mouth to say something, but closed it silently. This was not worth arguing over.  
"You're – you're American" Peggy finally voiced  
"Sure"  
"And, how did you come to meet Captain Rog—Captain America?"  
"I joined the French Resistance as a teenager and I'm a skilled fighter" she took on an action pose, then looked toward the door to make sure nobody was listening. The door remained shut, "I've served on several operations alongside Captain America"  
"Oh" Peggy mulled over the information. She didn't believe this trollop for a second, but the story played out well enough  
"And, you're from—here, California?"  
"Golly, no" the blonde laughed, "Virginia, Richmond, actually"  
"Your parents must have been upset with you running away"  
"They're quite wealthy, if you want to know" she eyed Peggy, "but, that's not what Cap and I love each other"  
"Alright" Peggy nodded slowly, "do you have anyone else, a sister or a brother?" she tried making conversation with the enigmatic woman  
"I have a brother, Harrison" she had turned around, facing the portrait of Howard, with her back towards Peggy  
Peggy frowned, "That's my father's name"  
"So we do have something in common", the blonde smiled  
"Perhaps" Peggy slowly exhaled  
"Now then, what are you going to do with that fellow you've got your friend looking at?" she spun around so suddenly, facing Peggy, that the SSR agent nearly fell off the bed.  
"Do about—about Michael?" Peggy was taken aback. What could she do? She was already practically in shock that he was alive, after she'd dreamt about him earlier in the year, as part of a blow-induced musical number revolving around Jason and Daniel.  
"You're doing what you wanted to do" he'd said. How much of that was some sort of other worldly message and how much of it was her own brain working through the issues? She couldn't be sure. What she was sure about, however, was that the man she remembered, her brother Michael, was nothing like the man who had tried to kill her earlier that night, and yet, he was the one and the same.  
"What about that scrawny boy in the photo?" blonde Peggy switched subjects  
"Scr—Steve" Peggy realized, "What about him?"  
"He seems awfully small. What did you see in him?"  
Peggy glared at the other woman. She stood up, and as she'd done with Howard regarding the Blitzkrieg Button, lashed out at the blonde, because here, she'd thought little of Steve Rogers a man who had more courage in his single finger than any soldier on the face of the earth.  
"I'll have you know that Steve Rogers dedicated his mind, his body, his life to the SSR and to this country" her voice was cool and calm, yet fraught with hatred for the person she was speaking to.  
"He's still skinny" the blonde shrugged  
"And you? You're so fond of your Captain America that you don't know who he really is, do you?"  
"What does any of that matter?" she smirked, "I suppose next you'll say that you're head over heels for that crippled chief of yours"  
"That crip—How dare you" Peggy's eyes flashed with anger, "you, who goes on about how Captain America must have been born ready, and that your love is so bloody powerful that you'd have no need to disguise your hearts, when you don't have the first clue about the man inside that mask, you're criticizing about the man in my life?"  
"Fine, suit yourself" blonde Peggy didn't seem to care one way or another, "I've got to find a way to get back to fighting off those damn Nazis"  
"Those—wait" Peggy leaned forward, "What year do you think – what year is it?" she hesitated  
"1944, don't you know anything?" she was brusque  
"You're in the war, aren't you?" Peggy spoke softly, realizing more about this mystery woman  
"What of it? It's been nice to have a break, but there's work to be done"  
"Sadly, there's no rest for the weary and wounded until the job is done" Peggy echoed her statement to Jarvis from months ago  
"You're right" the blonde smiled briefly  
"No" Peggy shook her head, "you're right—about Steve—about Captain America"  
Blonde Peggy scoffed at her, "I'd never guess that you'd agree with me"  
"I can understand, that's all" Peggy began, "of course you like him, because he's the embodiment of what it means to be courageous and brave, strong and heroic, when you're out there on the front lines. Your entire job is to be strong, otherwise the enemy would crush you"  
"You've been in battle?"  
"You could say that" Peggy hedged the truth, hiding exactly how much warfare she'd seen, on the front and during what should have been peacetime  
The blonde faced her, her eyes wide with excitement, "You see, he's so powerful, and I know that he loves me"  
"Because you're strong, and you both want to win the war" Peggy nodded  
"Right!"  
"You'll win the war" Peggy smiled warmly at her for a change, having realized more about her  
"How do you know?" she frowned  
"I have a feeling about things" Peggy leaned back a couple of degrees, resting on her palms, her arms straightened, "You know, strength comes in a lot of different forms"  
"In a war, there's only one way to win it" the blonde punched one fist into her other open hand  
"You'd be surprised" Peggy smiled at this woman's seemingly one track mind, "it doesn't take brute strength to win a war. It takes brains"  
"So those—guys" the blonde stumbled over the words, "they've got brains"  
"More than you know" Peggy smiled, a real smile, as she thought of Steve, her Steve, as she remembered him, not the hulking man who ruined her shot at a Hydra agent, but as the thin fellow, who knew what it was like to have every door shut in his face, and of Daniel, a man who'd had to rebuild his entire world view after losing part of his leg, but gaining so much more in the process of change  
"Brains win wars, and I know exactly how to win this one" Peggy stood, straightened her clothes, and headed straight for the door  
"I'm sorry I can't speak more right now, but, as you said, there's work to do" Peggy exited the room, and left the other woman standing there, dumbstruck


	3. Chapter 3

"Gentlemen, I believe that I've come up with a solution" Peggy strode into the room, where Howard, Daniel, and Jarvis were inspecting the bound Michael. Actually, Jarvis hung back, letting the other two men do the inspecting. Angie and Rose were paying close attention, but left Daniel and Howard to their bantering. The four turned toward Peggy  
"Steve's friend, sadly, the late Bucky Barnes was strapped to a table when Captain Rogers freed the prisoners of war during the war. I'm not sure what experiments Hydra was proposing, but it's quite possible that they have succeeded in turning my brother against us" she referred to the United States,  
"In that case" she continued, "Brainwashing seemed to be the only option. We'll need to deprogram him" she had taken on an impassioned, nearly clinical tone, in order to separate herself from her emotions, at least for now.  
"And how do you propose we do that?" Daniel was both snappish and confused  
"Dr. Fennhoff managed to hurt Chief Dooley by being alone with him" Peggy explained, "It's quite possible that Hydra did the same thing with my brother. They might have kept him alone, isolated, while they forced their ideology onto him"  
"So, he's alone with us now" Howard quipped  
"True" Peggy nodded, "Howard, do you still have those stereo goggles?"  
"What?" Daniel looked confused  
"Some time ago," Jarvis explained, "Mr. Stark had the idea of combining moving pictures and sound, in a self-contained apparatus"  
"Sort of a personal movie theatre that you could wear" Howard cleared up Jarvis' explanation  
"Sounds intriguing" Angie perked up  
"It was" Howard shrugged, "Until the volume and brightness controls stopped working"  
"It – didn't end well for the participants" Jarvis gave a verbal addendum  
"But" Howard raised his index finger in the air, "If we could redesign it to play the same information again and again"  
"A loop" Peggy clarified  
"Right" Howard nodded, "It might work"  
"Rose" Peggy instructed, "I need you to find and bring back as many of those training reels from the SSR"  
"Got it" she smiled  
"Howard, have you any bed restraints"  
"Peg, a guy like me doesn't kiss and tell" he quipped  
"Dear Lord" she sighed, "Do you have anything like that"  
"Well, sure, but"  
"Daniel" Peggy interjected, "you and Mr. Jarvis locate and retrieve as many of the – restraints as possible. We'll need more than just this" she gestured to Michael, who had been haphazardly tied with curtain cords from Howard's bedroom curtains  
"Angie, I need you to help me figure what sort of programming he's had done to him"  
Peggy glanced back at Stark, "Howard, boil some water"  
"For the deprograming?"  
"I could use a spot of tea"

Soon, Michael was bound to a wooden chair, courtesy of the leather bindings that Howard had. The less anyone thought about why he had them to begin with, the better they all were.  
Rose had the reels from the SSR, which explained the criteria to be an agent, the fight against oppression, and for truth, liberty and the American way.  
Peggy sipped her tea from a mug and glanced at the calculations that Angie and she had done  
"The calibrations should work" she set the cup down and marked an equation with her pencil  
"I hope you're right" Angie nodded solemnly  
Peggy stared ahead. She wasn't listening to Angie just then. Her mind was elsewhere. Her eyes were open, but what she saw wasn't the wall in Howard's mansion. She saw the footage of the aftermath of the experiments that the Nazi doctors did to helpless prisoners of war.  
The war was over, but those images haunted her.  
"I'm sure they'll be fine" Peggy blinked and was brought back to reality

They set to work. Howard had run the reels of film through what looked like a primitive box camera, and had bolted this to the remnants of the portable personal movie theatre set of goggles, which now sat over Michael's eyes, with the headphones over his ears. He was still bound tight by the leather restraints.  
The contraption looked positively childish  
Howard saw Peggy's disapproving looks  
"It's the best I can do on such short notice" Howard shrugged and his mustache danced on his upper lip  
There was little to do but wait, and watch

The night wore on, and Michael sat there, transfixed by the several reels of SSR training footage  
Peggy and the others sat around him, ready for action in case he should break his bonds and attack any, or all of them.  
Her head swayed from one side to another. She closed her eyes for a moment and then snapped them open.  
She closed them again  
Her eyes didn't open  
"Do you know a Dr. Katherine Wexford?" Jack Thompson had asked Peggy  
Peggy smiled, "I knew a Katherine Hornstock" she'd replied  
She never had told him the truth about Katherine Hornstock  
She'd known her, and then eventually, known too much about her.  
How her entrails had looked because they'd wanted to see what happens when a person's intestines were working while they were still alive  
How her skin had looked when it was peeled off like one peels a piece of fruit before eating it, while that person was still living  
How her flesh had charred like a used up log of wood from the fire when she'd been burned with cigars, cigarettes, and what looked like marks from a fireplace poker  
They'd been easy on her  
They hadn't tried to remove her eyeballs while she was still alive. While she could see the gruesomeness from one eye, while the other was gouged out  
She'd died before then  
"This is what you want to do?" Fred Wells callously tossed the photos on the table, making sure they spread out over the hardwood surface, "This? Go into some godforsaken battle and then come home in a coffin, if at all?"  
"Fred, I wanted"  
"You want? What do you want? Some life of action and adventure. Peggy, you're not Buck Rogers" he referenced the popular space fantasy radio program  
"I'm not the only one who sees that, who knows what I can do. Michael – he's the one who put me up for this position"  
"And if you fail, you'll be a disgrace to your family as well as mine. Is that what you really want to have happen?"  
Peggy hadn't cried that day. No tears had fallen. She's slipped the envelope back into her purse, and left it there, forever, she'd figured.  
Then, the unthinkable had happened.  
If one good thing had occurred that afternoon, it was that her brother's sacrifice had given her the strength, the fortitude to go back onto her path, the path she was meant for, to fight alongside her brothers in arms, in a real battle, instead of hiding behind a desk in a warm office building.  
Peggy opened her eyes. She was back in Howard's mansion. Her friends sat around her. Howard, Jarvis, even Ana, stood guard. Rose and Angie were there, all watching their work's progress. Peggy glanced next to her. Daniel was propped up in a chair, just as she was, his crutch lying between his legs, leaning against his chest. He was fighting sleep, just as she was. Taking turns over shifts would have been smarter, but it had taken nearly all of them to subdue Michael to this point. Peggy looked to the center of the makeshift ring. Michael sat there, bound to his chair, eyes forcibly transfixed on the positive propaganda, as it were, played out over the SSR training reels.  
He had sacrificed his life, even unknowingly. She had to do everything she could in order to help give her brother's life back to him.


	4. Chapter 4

Peggy's mind raced. The training reels were nearly finished, and Michael stood—rather, sat stock still, as though he was one of those wax statues at a gallery  
In the recesses of her mind, Peggy remembered the fight with Fred, and also the far too late question as to how he had gotten hold of the evidentiary photographs in the first place. She never had learned that secret of his.  
Just as quickly, Peggy remembered Katherine Hornstock, who was neither a secret agent, nor a spy, and whose only crime was in knowing the one time head girl from their class, a Ms. Margaret Carter.

Finished.  
Finally, the reel had run its course  
"Do you think it worked?" Daniel whispered to Peggy  
"There's only one way to find out?" she stepped forward and addressed Michael, "Hello" she tried hard to remain calm, hoping for the best  
Michael lunged at her, tipping over the chair in the process. He fell forward, slamming his chin against the hardwood floor  
"Get him up" Peggy instructed. She grasped one end of the chair while Howard, Rose and Angie grabbed the other three edges and hoisted Michael back into a sitting position  
"I don't understand it" Howard frowned  
"There was a psychological article written about classical conditioning" Peggy remembered aloud, "Pavlov, a scientist devised a theory that resulted in his ringing a bell and having dogs salivate. Over the course of several experiments, he found a way for them to associate the sound of a ringing bell with that of food"  
"So we have to ring a bell, or do we have to bring him food?" Howard quipped  
Peggy sighed, "The training reels aren't enough. He's simply watching them without any reasoning, any incentive to either act in accordance with them, let alone associate anything good with them"  
"He needs something that triggered a good feeling to make him put the tapes together with a positive emotion" Rose explained  
"Exactly" Peggy nodded, "When we were children, we'd play together, and he was just as much an adventurous sort as I was" she mused aloud  
"Perhaps if you read him something that you remembered from your childhood" Ana Jarvis poked her head into the room  
"Ana" Edwin Jarvis frowned, "This work is far too dangerous for you to be here. What if you were hurt?"  
"Edwin" Ana glared back at her husband, "I have helped Dr. Wilkes with his wiring procedures, I have done nearly everything that you have, in your adventures. If anyone should be afraid, it is me, for I – I" she couldn't finish the sentence  
It was the first time the rest of the group had seen her unable to remain stoic  
"We're worried for each other" Jarvis nodded, and held his wife, "It shall be alright" he sighed, "Perhaps you have a rather valid point" he turned to Peggy, "At one time, had you not mentioned Saint George and the Dragon?"  
"I can't believe that you remembered the title" Peggy was taken aback, though pleasantly so  
"I try to remember important facts" he shrugged off the compliment  
"Unfortunately" Ana explained, "There is little we can do right now. I don't believe Mr. Stark has a copy of that book in his library, and the most famous current Saint George is the football club in Australia"  
Daniel stood there, jaw gaping open, at Ana's plethora of knowledge  
Jarvis noticed the chief's gaze, "My Ana is quite the scholar" he beamed proudly  
"Apparently so" Daniel finally said, still flabbergasted. Of course, he hadn't known much about the Jarvises, so this bit of knowledge came as a surprise to him  
"In other words" Peggy summarized, "we won't be able to find a book to read, or a recording to play for Michael"  
"I have heard" Jarvis started, "that a shock, as from a bolt of lightning or electricity might help break a person from hypnosis"  
"A bolt of lightning?" Peggy was astonished, "You're suggesting that we electrocute my brother?".  
Before Jarvis could explain, Daniel spun around with a look of shock and anger on his face  
"Your brother?" Daniel practically shouted. He leaned on his crutch and gestured to Michael with his available arm, "That" he pointed, "is not your brother. He's some Hydra driven maniac who tried to kill you!"  
Peggy glared at Daniel. This was the man that she was supposed to marry? She didn't wait for a second. She slapped him hard across his face, "How dare you"  
Daniel stepped back, visibly shaken. He stared her down  
She stared right back at him  
Angie, Rose, Howard and the Jarvises looked nervously from one to another, and at the stalemate that had begun in their midst  
"Perhaps" Jarvis began, "we could use a short break" he put on a cheerful smile  
"Great idea!" Howard agreed loudly, "Who wants a martini? Nobody" he looked around, "I do!" he raised his own hand, "Splendid!" he answered himself.  
Peggy sat on one of the chairs in the room and stared at Michael  
Daniel sighed, looked at her one last time, and then left the room to join the others.

"I don't know what to do" Daniel spoke to himself, though audibly enough so that others heard him  
"Ms. Carter is under an unbelievable amount of stress" Jarvis explained gently, "I can't imagine how she's feeling" he turned back to the room's attached wet bar.  
"I can" Rose spoke up  
Everyone turned to her, even Howard, martini in hand  
Rose continued, "The war changes people. It doesn't have to be hypnosis or torture or anything deliberate" she momentarily smiled as she took a Manhattan from Jarvis, "sometimes, just the battle itself makes people completely different from how you remember them"  
She was clearly speaking from experience. Nobody stepped forward to ask her how she knew. It was obvious that she simply did.  
Rose Roberts glanced around the room. This was a safe place  
"It's easy to think that I'm pretty much no nonsense" she began, "I know I'm a good agent" she stared at her glass for a moment, "That's because of what I went through with Stan"  
It seemed like the entire room held their breath  
"Stan was my boyfriend. He got shipped off to go kill Nazis" she smiled wistfully, "but afterward, when he returned- and I know I'm – I was really blessed because he came home, and so many, many, others hadn't"  
She took a long sip of her drink.  
"But when he did come home, things were very different from how they'd been before. Stan didn't want an eventual marriage, which, I could understand. He'd seen more than his share of horror, while I'd been right here, safe and secure. I didn't know how bad things were, until one day, I came home and found him—him" she couldn't continue  
Angie put a reassuring arm around Rose's shoulder, "We've all been there" she patted Rose's arm, "We've all lost someone, in some way"  
Daniel looked on. He opened his mouth to say something, but quietly closed it.  
"I know" Rose sniffed, "and I know that Peggy's feeling horrible about her brother"  
"Maybe that idea about electricity isn't so farfetched" Angie looked at the others, "a bolt of lightning is out of place, of course, but we could generate that much energy" she looked at Howard, "you could"  
"Sure I could, but we're not talking about the"  
Jarvis cut him off, "Sir, please, time is of the utmost importance"  
"Right, Jarvis" Howard nodded, "ladies, please follow me to the library. I have a feeling I'll need your keen eyes"  
Howard took Rose and Angie with him to the library. Daniel glanced back from where they'd gone, over to the other door, where Peggy was probably still sitting with her brother, or what was left of him.  
"You've been in the war, Jarvis" he finally spoke. Mr. Jarvis was cleaning the glasses and placing them away. Daniel went on, "I know it changes people, but—people don't usually come back"  
"I'm sorry, Chief Sousa, but I didn't quite understand" Jarvis was tactful. He wiped a glass and placed it under the bar on a shelf  
"I mean, they don't go back to how they were before they were shipped off"  
"Quite so" he nodded knowingly, "battle changes us, often times in ways that we never imagined"  
"That's what I've been trying to tell Peggy" Daniel waved towards the door with his available hand  
"On the other hand" Jarvis stepped away from the wet bar, and crossed the room towards Daniel, "attachments to people often do bear quite strongly, even over distance, and time"  
"Yeah, I know" Daniel sighed. It was obvious that the last statement was more than a subtle nod towards the torch that he'd been carrying for Peggy since they'd worked together in New York  
"I don't know what to do. I don't want to dash her hopes, but I don't want her hurt, and – she won't leave that damn room for a minute"  
"Chief Sousa, if I may" Jarvis began  
"Sure"  
"You are rather close with Ms. Carter—even before you were to be married"  
"You know that" Daniel glared at him  
"And, even though you traveled considerable distance, practically across the United States, as it were—"  
"Uh huh" Daniel growled quietly  
"The moment that you saw Ms. Carter again, after many, many months—you felt a connection, as it were, am I right?"  
"Jarvis" Daniel touched his forehead with his free hand, and leaned on his crutch, "you know how I feel about Peggy, what is all this about?"  
"Simply that you've barely known her for roundabout two years"  
"Yeah"  
"Michael Carter has been her brother since she was born"  
"Yeah, you're right"  
"It is not the question of being right or wrong" Jarvis neared the other man, "It is the question of simply being there"  
"You're—a smart man, Jarvis" Daniel smiled. He turned and walked to the closed door, "wish me luck"


	5. Chapter 5

In Howard Stark's cavernous library, Angie, Rose, and Howard looked through the tomes to see if anything would be helpful in aiding Michael Carter  
Rose thumbed through a medical journal, "There was a paper by a Dr. Willard" she remembered aloud, "where he described the effects of Sodium Pentothal"  
"What did it do?" Angie spoke while scanning the books at eye level on a shelf  
Rose turned to Angie and Howard, who was flipping through the pages of a hardback novel, "It's mainly used in anesthesia"  
"And" Howard looked up  
"And, based on a Dr. Waters' research, Dr. Willard described how a patient under his care woke from a shock and stress related coma"  
"Great, but our boy in the other room is already awake" Howard referred to Michael  
"True" Rose considered, "but it would make him more susceptible to telling the truth. If I remember correctly, the drug suppresses the higher cortical functions and that leads to the uncovering of the truth"  
"Well, let's try this out!" Howard seemed ready to go  
"The drug tends to make subjects chatty and compliant with those asking questions"  
"So, can we trust what they're saying when they've been injected with this – this truth serum?"  
"Right now, it's the best shot that we have" Rose finished

Daniel walked into the room he'd just exited from, as quietly as he could. As he figured, Peggy was still sitting on her chair, staring at her brother, as he figuratively frothed at the mouth like a madman  
"Peggy?" Daniel spoke cautiously  
His voice startled her. She glanced up at him, "Oh, Daniel" she sighed, "I shouldn't have-"  
"It's ok" he interjected  
"It's not" she didn't let him finish, "Maybe he's too far for us to help him right now"  
"Maybe" Daniel sat in the chair next to her. They effectively ignored Michael Carter for the moment, "but you've known him longer than anyone else. You know the person he used to be. Maybe he's still inside, somewhere"  
"I hope so" she looked from Daniel to her brother, and back again  
"Tell me about him" Daniel offered, "What was he like, before?"  
"Oh, Daniel, you two would've been good friends, I suppose" she sighed, "He loved adventure, and action, and I suppose I didn't realize how much he'd influenced me"  
Daniel shook his head, "As long as I've known you, you're the one who's wanted to be in the thick of things, fighting alongside everyone else"  
"That's almost exactly what he said to me once"  
"Maybe we would've been friends. There's still a chance. If I can pull you away for a moment, he looks like he'll be alright, I want to see if Rose, Angie and the others have found anything useful that might help him"  
"Let's do that" she looked one last time at Michael, and then pushed open the door for Daniel

"It's the middle of the night" Angie lamented, "where are we going to find this truth serum?"  
"There's a lab, downstairs" Peggy explained, gesturing everyone to head down to the lower floor  
"What about our chief guest over there?" Daniel pointed with his thumb at the room they'd just come from  
"Do you remember my camera pen, Peggy?" Howard glanced over at her  
"I do" she was waiting for the punch line  
"This" he fished something from his pajama shirt pocket, "does the same thing, except this does it with moving pictures"  
"A miniaturized movie camera?" Rose marveled at the device  
"Wait, what have you been recording so far?" Daniel scowled at Howard  
"Nothing, honest" Howard held up a hand in a mock salute like a boy scout. He turned to Peggy, "just place this on the table in front of him, and click the pen into the on position, as if you were going to write. It'll transmit the images to one of a few screens I have"  
"Such as?" Daniel looked quizzically at Howard  
"Well, a good detective would guess that I had one in my closet in my bedroom" Howard quipped  
Peggy then realized that the cupboard she'd seen in Howard's bedroom didn't contain costumes, but rather housed a viewing screen; discreet, if not slightly off putting.  
She turned and walked deftly into the room. She looked at her brother, who glared at her. She forced a smile to hide her sadness at seeing him like this, "Would you care for something to eat?" she clicked the pen as if she was getting ready to write down a lunch order, "Oh how times have changed" she thought silently.  
Michael stared at her, but said nothing  
"Alright, do let me know when you're ready" she smiled, and purposely making it look like an accident, left the pen in plain view of Michael, with the end of the pen that would have held the nib pointed towards him.  
She shut the door behind her and looked at the group in front of her, "Well, did it work?"  
"We'll know in a minute" Howard nodded, "Everyone, let's go down to the lab" he announced

In the lab, Howard set to work. He was surrounded by test tubes and beakers, Bunsen burners and racks for holding vials.  
Angie looked around the lab, her eyes fixed on a green and red logo sign on the wall, "What's that?"  
Howard looked up, glanced at the sign, and then concentrated on his work, "That" he spoke while staring at the chemicals in front of him, "was something I threw together. I wanted to update the stodgy old logo, but that people at Castrol didn't want anything to do with it. They're not visionaries I suppose"  
Rose peered at the tubes Howard was moving about, "What exactly are you doing?"  
"Not much" he didn't look up from his work, "it's merely a mixture of sodium, nitrogen and sulfur" He held a tube in one hand and a syringe in another. He submerged the needle of the syringe into the solution and pulled up on the plunger. The syringe filled with the liquid.  
Meanwhile, Daniel, Jarvis and Peggy watched a black and white screen that depicted Michael, still bound, struggling against his restraints  
"How long do you think those bindings will hold him?" Daniel thought aloud  
"Hopefully until we can administer this solution" Howard referred to the solution as the result of the mixture of elements, not as a definite solution to Carter's brainwashing.

"Hold him down" Peggy instructed  
Rose grasped Michel's shoulders and kept him rigid on his chair  
Daniel held one arm down while Jarvis and Howard weighed down the other arm  
"This will hurt for a moment" Peggy warned  
"Tell him that, not us" Howard quipped, "we know that already"  
Peggy pressed down on the plunger and injected the serum into Michael's arm  
He growled at her  
"I'm sorry" she sighed softly  
Michael fought against the restraints, harder once Rose, Jarvis, Daniel and Howard had let him go. Slowly, his eyes stopped focusing and he gazed lazily at the blank wall ahead of him  
"Michael, can you hear me?" Peggy leaned forward  
Michael's arms lay limply under the restraints. His head rolled side to side, and then rested, practically leaning against one of his shoulders. His eyes closed and remained shut  
"Well, it was used in anesthesia" Rose noted  
"Michael, Michael, can you hear me?" Peggy's question was more forceful now  
Michael's eyes opened slowly, "Peggy?" his British lilt sounded as though it was coming from far away. He wasn't focusing on her, or anyone else. His eyes moved about the room, seemingly of their own accord  
"You have to get out!" he suddenly barked, his eyes wide with fear  
"What?" her voice was sharp  
"They'll find you" he wasn't looking her, but rather, straight ahead  
"Who, Michael?"  
"Stop, stop! I won't tell you anything!" he struggled at his restraints  
"This isn't working" Peggy shouted over to Howard over Michael's delusions  
"Put this on him" Howard passed her a modified gas mask- the goggles and lenses had been cut away, only the mouthpiece and canister remained, "Press it to his face" he instructed  
Peggy did so, and Michael's ramblings slowed down until he was unconscious on the chair  
"What was in that?" she scowled at Howard  
"Not much, just a little cyclopropane" he shrugged, "or – a lot"  
"Now what?" Rose looked eagerly from one person to the next  
"Steve- Captain Rogers mentioned something that Bucky Barnes told him about the experiments that were being performed on him" she paused to gather her thoughts, "that a doctor with a large forehead had lashed him to a table, and was preparing him for some sort of service" she sighed, "unfortunately, we never found out exactly what was happening, but Captain Rogers was sure that Arnim Zola was the doctor that was experimenting on Barnes" she looked around from one face to the next, "Dr. Zola is in SSR custody. He should be able to tell us what was being planned"

The group dragged Michael, still unconscious, into Howard Stark's radio room. The room was no bigger than a large closet, but housed a simpler version of Rose's switchboard apparatus mounted on the wall, with a set of sockets, a telephone receiver, and a speaker.  
"He's got a radio room?" Angie looked around the small area, obviously in awe  
"Mr. Stark likes to be prepared, in case he must be privy to pertinent information" Jarvis rationalized and explained  
Peggy sprang into action, "Rose, patch me through to the New York branch" she didn't have to explain that she wanted to be contacted to SSR New York  
Rose patched the call through, and Peggy was soon on the phone with a desk clerk  
"There's a three hour time difference" Angie reminded Peggy  
"Well, they'll just have to burn the midnight oil, won't they?" she waited for the clerk to answer  
"Yes" once they were on the line, she went ahead, "I need to set up a telephonic conference with one of the prisoners"  
"What makes you think he'll tell you anything?" Daniel whispered to her  
"I expect I shall make him" Peggy's answer shot back  
"For you" they heard the clerk hand the receiver on the other end to Zola  
"Yes" his voice carried clearly over the line  
"Dr. Zola" Peggy addressed him  
"Ah, Captain America's girlfriend"  
"Agent Carter" she corrected him  
"No matter. What have you called such a distance from to hear about?"  
"So help me God, I will reach through this phone and pull you through" Peggy growled  
"So angry? You must calm yourself" Zola seemed at peace  
"What have you done to my brother?"  
"I will say this" his voice was calm, controlled, "He was not the best, so perhaps we could have done a better job"  
Peggy didn't understand, "The first?"  
"No matter" Zola continued, "He did his job, and now it is done"  
"His job" Peggy repeated  
"Do not be alarmed" Zola's speech was easygoing, "you have all the information you need"  
Peggy began saying something else, but by then, Zola had hung up the connection  
The others crowded around the entrance of the small room. Rose had a firm grip on the unconscious Michael, and Jarvis stood by at the ready. It was clear that everyone was concerned about seeing Peggy come so emotionally unhinged. Obviously, she cared a great deal for her brother.  
"His messages were cryptic, at best" Peggy informed the group, "He said that Michael wasn't their best, and that they could've done a better job, that I have the information needed, and that his work, Michael's work, was done"  
"You don't suppose there's a self-destruct sequence inside him?" Howard uttered. No one could tell if he was joking or being serious.  
"I hope not" Peggy shuddered. She didn't want to think about anything like that happening to Michael.  
Everyone waited. It seemed like Peggy was mentally chewing on something  
"I have a terrible idea." Peggy began, "Earlier in the year" she continued, "Jack Thompson showed me a file, saying that he'd found dirt on me" Peggy explained, "The file was heavily redacted, but discussed the activities of an Agent M. Carter"  
"But that's not you" Daniel interjected  
"No" she shook her head, "I'd hoped that the file was simply fabricated, perhaps Vernon Master's attempt to scare me" she stood from the small radio desk and walked with the others out into the hallway, "but with Zola's cryptic message, now I'm wondering if the M. Carter in the file might have been Michael" she glanced at her brother, still unconscious, being held up by Rose and Jarvis, "I didn't put the information together until just now. I had no reason to believe that the file, let alone the information in it, was factual at all"  
"You weren't worried about the file earlier, but now you are?" Daniel was trying to understand  
"It discussed a horrible massacre, that civilians had been killed mercilessly" Peggy shuddered as she described the file's contents, "But it related to a time after Michael had been- after we thought he'd been killed"  
She went on, "We thought he'd been killed in 1940, but the file spoke about events in 1943, and by then, I part of the -" she sighed and did her best to push past thoughts of Steve Rogers for the moment, simply so she could explain things to the others, "essentially, the dates didn't match up, so I naturally thought that the file was doctored at best, or simply a forgery"  
"But now, it looks like it wasn't?" Daniel wanted to clarify  
"It appears that way" Peggy sighed  
"So, what do we do now that we know this information?" Daniel genuinely asked  
"We find out why this happened" Peggy was determined


	6. Chapter 6

New York

Arnim Zola was walked back to his cell  
Vernon Masters stood at the entrance, smiling  
"You were right" Zola nodded at Masters, "she asked"  
"You did as I told you?" Masters asked.  
The cell door closed behind Zola, locking him in the cell  
"Yes" Zola agreed, "I simply agreed with her. She was completely taken in"  
"Good" Masters walked away  
"What about my pardon?" his voice followed Masters from the cell down the hall  
"We'll see" the reply tumbled back to the cell as the door shut behind Masters

Los Angeles

"If Zola had control of Michael" Peggy postulated aloud, "that means that the Red Skull had been planning this for years before knowing that he'd need to use him"  
"Against you, you mean" Daniel clarified  
"Yes" Peggy nodded, "I can't imagine him, based on what we know from Captain Rogers and Dr. Erskine" she sighed, remembering Steve, but pushed on, "we know that the Red Skull had become hell-bent on using the power of the Tesseract to control weaponry. I can't imagine why he would move onto hypnotism or mind control, or however they're controlling Michael"  
"What makes you say mind control or hypnotism?" Daniel didn't understand, "nobody's brought it up other than you. Where are you getting that from?"  
"There were some notes from Dr. Erskine, back at SSR New York" Peggy explained, "one time, I went through them to find a Vita Ray Detector" she went on, "earlier, I'd glanced through the notes"  
Daniel raised an eyebrow  
"I – read the notes, and he did mention his worries about Schmidt, the Red Skull, finding other ways to gain power over his soldiers. This may have very well been one of those ways"  
"What can we do about it?" Rose wanted to know, "we've got to do something to help your brother"  
"Ideally" Peggy agreed, "the question is, if Zola was telling the truth, we'll have to go on the assumption that he knows how to undo the process"  
"And if he's lying?" Daniel countered  
"Then we'll have to simultaneously find an alternate solution" Peggy finished  
"Let's begin, shall, we?" she resumed almost as soon as she'd completed her previous thought. She began relaying information, and Daniel dutifully took a pen and paper and wrote down as much as he could of what she was saying,  
"Theory 1: M has been brainwashed by Zola  
M didn't die in 1940. Instead, he was captured by Arnim Zola before Zola was captured in 1945"  
"Wait, if Zola was captured then, who was controlling him now?" she referred to Michael  
"Well, we've got a second theory" he flipped the notebook page over, and read  
"Theory 2: M has been brainwashed by someone else [SOE]  
M didn't die in 1940. He was instead captured by SOE and used as a prototype for some sort of mission where he would go about killing enemies of SOE, though we don't know who yet"  
Rose looked at the paper in Daniel's lap,  
"SOE?"  
"It's short for the term someone else" he looked up from his work.  
Peggy glanced at the paper. The words had scarcely come out of Daniel's mouth when a look of horror struck her face  
"Oh my god" she uttered  
"What happened?" Rose looked concerned  
"S-O-E" Peggy read the letters individually, "What if, what if – it can't be"  
"What's the SOE?" Daniel looked confused  
Peggy supplied that information, "The Special Operations Executive was a British World War II organization. It was formed eight years ago to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance against the Axis powers and to aid local resistance movements"  
Daniel's expression showed that she needed a little more information  
"I was picked for a position with the SOE just before its initiation, and Michael had put me up for that job" she clarified, "but the organization disbanded two years ago. I can't imagine how they would realistically be connected"  
"Maybe there's more to them than you know" Daniel shrugged  
"Maybe there's a connection between them and another group" Rose suggested  
"Perhaps, you both could be right" Peggy thought aloud, "the SOE could have been involved, especially if they had such technology at their disposal"  
Howard yawned, "Whatever their technology is, it hasn't been a good way to keep us awake"  
"You have a point" Peggy noted, "we should get some sleep"  
"What about the steadfast tin soldier over there?" Daniel nodded towards the unconscious Michael, slumped over on a chair  
Peggy glared at him, "We'll have to take turns staying awake, should Michael – do something"  
"Capitol idea" Jarvis piped up  
"I'll take the first watch" Peggy volunteered  
"Forget it" Daniel put his hand protectively on her shoulder, "You've been up all night with us"  
"As have you" she snapped back at him  
"Ok" Daniel gruffly backed off, "you take the first watch" he sat back on a chair and hung his crutch on the side of the chair back  
"There's more to him than that" Peggy's voice was sharp, "if only you knew him, before"  
"Just like there's more to Steve Rogers?" Daniel shot back  
"Now is neither the time nor place to discuss that" she sounded like a teacher  
"No" Daniel shot sat forward, "I think this is the perfect time to discuss this"  
"Oh my" Jarvis uttered, and took a few steps back. Rose, Ana, Angie, and even Howard moved away.  
"I'm starting to think Thompson was right"  
"Excuse me?" Peggy shot him a look  
"You and Captain America" he wasn't smug. He stated it as though it was a fact  
"Daniel" Peggy began, "you know nothing about Steve Rogers, nor anything about whatever relationship I had with him" her anger pushed the sadness that would've come from thinking about her loss of Steve  
Daniel had an impassive look upon his face. He crossed his arms in front of him.  
"I do not have to stand here and argue this case right here and right now" Peggy walked away. She stopped before reaching the other door, spun on her heels and spat out, "I have to take care of my brother, or perhaps you forgot that since you were dutifully taking notes from Chief Thompson"  
The door slammed behind her.

Late in the night, everyone else had slept- men in one room, women in another. Bedrolls were laid on the floor of both rooms, thanks to Jarvis, who'd insisted on the much more comfortable beds upstairs, but Peggy had been adamant that everyone remain where they could be within earshot in case something happened to or with Michael. Peggy propped herself up in a chair, stared at her comatose brother. As much as she loved him, logically, she knew that anything could happen. The drug would soon wear off, and they'd be back at square one with him.  
Peggy stared at Michael in the darkened room, "There's so much more to him" she explained to herself, "He's not just some soulless killing machine. He's my brother" she sighed, "There's more to who he is, just like there's more to Steve than just being Captain America" she rationalized. The world had seen Steve post transformation, Agents Krzeminski and Thompson had made lewd jokes that showed their feelings. Could Daniel have laughed alongside them, like a real boy's club? Peggy shook her head and dismissed the thought. The night, the whole ordeal, had been too much for them all, and nerves were coming unglued  
Was it all in her head, occasionally, she'd heard Daniel, often when he thought no one was listening, muttering "a shield for a crutch, a shield for a crutch". She had no idea what he was going on about, but perhaps it was his own personal demons. "We all have them" she told herself, "even I do" she sighed

In the other room, Jarvis mumbled in his sleep, "Oh Mummy, it's the biggest horsey ever!" while Howard Stark sat awake and stared, not at the doorway, but at Daniel Sousa, asleep, his prosthetic still buckled to his hip.  
Howard had had enough. He elbowed Daniel in the ribs to wake him up  
"What- what is it, is her brother – did something happen?" he snapped his eyes open and blurted out  
"No" Howard shushed him, "you and I need to talk"  
"Right now?" Daniel blinked in the darkness  
"Yeah, right now" Howard was firm, "I'm pretty tired of how you're treating Peggy"  
"I thought you two weren't – you know"  
"We're not" Howard scowled, "but she's still my friend, and since you're her fiancé, you better do right by her"  
"What are you talking about?" Daniel propped himself up on his hands, in a semi reclined position, "I'm fine with her"  
"Yeah, you could've fooled me" Howard snapped in the dark, "that crack about her brother, and the stuff you say about Steve sure make me feel like you have a chip on your shoulder the size of Texas"  
Daniel stared at him in the dark, so Howard continued,  
"You think you know Steve Rogers, that he's Captain America?"  
"Sure"  
"That's not all he was. He wasn't just some muscle bound GI who got lucky. He had heart, he cared about people, and he cared most of all about Peggy"  
"Great" Daniel was sarcastic  
"Do you ever wonder why she keeps those photos on her desk?"  
Daniel stared at Howard  
"Yeah," Howard asked an unspoken question, "I've been in your LA headquarters once in a while. I know what goes on there"  
Daniel wasn't sure if Howard really knew things or not, but Peggy did have two photos on her desk.  
"One, I can only guess is you" Howard gestured in the darkened room, "and the other, is Steve Rogers, the Steve Rogers that Peggy loved, not the bulked up soldier, not the American hero, but the guy who risked his life when he thought hers was in danger"  
"Sure" Daniel rolled over  
Howard squatted at the foot of Daniel's bedroll  
"Don't believe me? It was all over the base that month"  
"What?"  
"Phillips wants to show how tough his men are, so in the middle of training, jumping jacks, pushups, that sort of thing, he throws a grenade into the field"  
Daniel sighed  
"Peggy was the one drilling them in their physical fitness" Howard explained  
Daniel finally paid attention  
"Phillips yells 'Grenade!', and everyone scatters, except one guy. Steve Rogers, a man so underweight that I could—that Jarvis could lift him easily, and he's the one who leaps not away, like everyone else, but immediately toward, and directly on top of that grenade, yelling for everyone to scatter"  
Daniel was speechless,  
"Of course, it didn't explode" Howard chuckled, "but that was why Steve was picked, because he had heart, he had courage, and he used his brains"  
"It takes brains to leap on a grenade?" Daniel scoffed  
"It takes brains to bring a flag down when none of your fellow GIs can bring it down" Howard explained, "It takes guts and heart to put your life on the line before everyone else's, just so they don't get hurt. That's the guy Steve was"  
Howard pointed at Daniel, "And that's the guy you are, my friend. That day, at the Zero Matter Rift, while we were all having a regular pissing contest as to who should turn the crank on the machine, you walked headlong into the eye of the hurricane, ready to be killed if it would save everyone else- if that would save Peggy" he finished  
Daniel looked self-conscious  
"That's the man that Peggy fell for, not because of what Steve Rogers did, but because she saw you being you, just like she's seen you this whole time, before, and after that, as the man you are"  
Daniel sighed, "What can I do? I already went off about Captain Rogers, and her brother, Michael"  
"Just be Daniel, the man she already loves" he grinned, "and quit feeling sorry for yourself"  
Their camaraderie was cut short when Peggy's screams cut through the silence, "Howard, Daniel, Jarvis"  
"I'm coming, Peggy" Daniel stumbled to his feet, grabbed his crutch and headed straight for the door.  
What he saw left him stunned


	7. Chapter 7

Peggy stared at her brother. Sleep wouldn't come, not now, even if she could have willed it. "How do we deal with something like this?" she wondered, "Even if he can be cured, how do we know something might – something more might happen to him. What if he gets worse? What if whoever is controlling him comes for us?"  
These questions might never be answered. Peggy sighed  
Before she could continue her thoughts, Michael's eyes snapped open. His eyes darted around. Since he was unconscious, his restraints had been removed. Peggy had taken pity on him. She could see now, that it had been fatally wrong of her to feel perhaps such strong emotion.  
Michael's breath came out in short pants, shallow breathing, and he glanced at his surroundings. Without warning, he snatched at the objects on the table and grabbed Daniel's service revolver and before Peggy could stop him, turned it on himself and fired into his chest.  
"Michael!" Peggy screamed, "Howard, Daniel, Jarvis" she called for her friends  
"I'm coming, Peggy" Daniel's voice was heard behind the door, and a moment later, he burst into the room, his prosthetic leg at an odd angle, with the inside of the shoe scraping the hardwood floor, and his crutch shoved onto his forearm.  
He stood there in shock for a moment, as Michael bled onto the wood paneling floorboards  
"We have to get him to a doctor, to a hospital, right now" Peggy instructed  
"Don't you think that's the first place that Hydra will look for him?" Daniel criticized  
"You can either help me get him medical attention right now, or you can stand back and let me save my brother" she shouted  
"Right" Daniel grabbed Michael's leg with his available hand and hoisted him up, with Peggy carrying Michael's torso, her hands supporting him under his arms. Daniel looked at Peggy from over Michael's bleeding torso. Michael's other leg dragged on the floor like a petulant child's during a temper tantrum. Howard, Jarvis, Rose and Angie rushed in, each grabbed an extremity; they all managed to get Michael to the car with some difficulty  
Outside, in the darkness of night, Ana stood before the automobile with her husband, ready to leap into the vehicle as well  
"You have to stay here" he wore a sad yet firm expression on his face, "If anything were to-" he didn't finish the sentence  
"I shall be fine, Mr. Jarvis" she looked up at him, "You worry about me, and I worry about you, and perhaps, perhaps all that worrying isn't very good right now"  
"Yes" he nodded, "Well, that is true" he took her hands in his, "Be safe" he pressed something into her hands and then took his place in the driver's seat.  
Rose, Angie and Michael took up the back seat, while Jarvis, Peggy, and Daniel sat on the front bench, with Daniel uncomfortably sandwiched between driver and fiancé/passenger.

"It'll be alright" Rose tried to reassure Peggy, as the car sped out during the pitch black night  
Peggy looked determinedly at the road ahead of her, though Jarvis was driving  
"I know" she stared as the road was eaten ravenously by the car's fender  
Once they reached the hospital, Peggy sprang into action, perhaps as a way of pushing aside her emotions for the moment.  
"We have a gunshot wound" she barked at a nurse, nearly doing a double take. The nurse who had rushed out of the hospital's foyer was Violet.  
Violet, like Peggy was on full alert, and ready for her job, "Stretcher!" she called back to the orderlies, who rushed out and scooped up Michael onto a canvas cot  
The trip to the operation theater was too much like Ana's gunshot wound. Jarvis hung back in the foyer, mumbling "All over again" with Rose trying to console him, while Peggy, Daniel and Angie rushed ahead with the stretcher  
"What the hell happened to him?" the doctor, Dr. Choi, motioned for nurses to try to stop the bleeding as the stretcher was swapped for a wheeled gurney  
"Gunshot wound" Peggy informed, in full professional mode now. She conveniently left off that it was self-inflicted  
"Prep him for surgery" Choi shouted, and ran with the nurses through the swinging operation theater doors  
"I'm sorry" Violet clutched a clipboard in her hands  
"Yes, so am I" Peggy nodded, the adrenaline rushing out of her  
"Not just about him" Violet went on, she glanced at Daniel momentarily, "I have to ask you to fill this out" she held out the clipboard  
"Him?" Peggy took the form  
"The man, the gunshot wound"  
"Right" Peggy nodded, understanding, "he's my brother"  
"Oh" Violet looked crushed, "the doctor is very good, we'll all hope for the best"  
"Yes" Peggy stared ahead, realizing the enormity of things once the rush had petered off  
"Hi" Angie smiled, "could you show me where I can get a cup of Joe here?"  
"Of course" Violet and Angie walked along a corridor and were out of everyone's field of vision soon enough  
"Peggy" Daniel came forward, "do you—" he began, "Look, you need to sit down, process"  
"Process?" she turned on him, "Do you realize how"  
"No" he shot back, "I don't. I know how it feels when I was shot. I know how it feels to wake up in a hospital and not know where your leg is, or why people you thought you could trust would treat you like you mean nothing now that you can't do things like everyone else"  
Peggy sighed, "Daniel" she opened her mouth  
"Save it" Daniel turned away, "your brother needs you now. Sit down, rel" he started to say relax, even though that was impossible, "Try filling out those forms. Be glad Jack isn't here. He'd only mess them up" he walked away without looking back to see her momentary smile  
Peggy sat down with the clipboard. Jarvis sat next to her. In an odd mirroring of the last time they had been at the hospital, on this same bench, he took her hand, in a friendly gesture, and squeezed it.  
"I know" she sighed. Everything seemed up be all mucked up. She looked at the form in her hands  
"Last name" she read, "Carter" she wrote. "First initial", she sighed, "M", "Age" she smiled, "four years older than I am"  
Suddenly, it clicked- everything clicked.  
"M. Carter" she whispered  
She turned to her friend, "Mr. Jarvis, I need to borrow some change for a long distance telephone call"  
"Of course, Ms. Carter" he passed her some coins  
Peggy abandoned the clipboard on the bench, and dialed a series of numbers at one of the pay phones  
"This is Agent Carter. Patch me through to Chief Thompson" she spoke to the new receptionist  
"Jack" she began when he answered, "Do you remember anything about the man who shot you?"  
"Golly, Marge" he seemed to grin through the phone, "it was a blur. One minute I'm at the door and the next I'm on the floor"  
"But that file, the one you showed me briefly, what do you remember about it"  
"File? Right. The file. Atrocities, civilians killed, nobody was spared from the massacre"  
"Yes, yes" she was impatient, "In the file, it talks about someone and you thought was me"  
"Sure, of course, you're the only M. Carter in the book"  
"The only Agent Carter" she sighed, "that you know of"  
"That's what I said" he sounded irritated  
"You did" she nodded, "Thank you, Jack. For once, you've actually been a help"  
"I wish I could say the same about you, Marge" he hung up  
"The only Agent M. Carter" she repeated, "maybe for the SSR, but not for the SOE" she rationalized aloud  
"Could Michael have done it?" she walked in a daze back to the bench, "could he have shot Jack?"  
"Could who have shot Agent Thompson?" Jarvis looked at her from his seat on the bench  
"Nobody" she lied  
"Come now, Ms. Carter" Jarvis gave her a knowing look, "I would like to think that we're friends, and that, you can trust me, just as I trust you"  
"I do, Mr. Jarvis" she sighed, "I've just found out some distressing news, and yes, it would feel better to confide in a friend"  
"I shall patiently wait for you to let me know when the right time for that is" he smiled  
A few moments passed in silence. Peggy glanced at the form, still half done. Finally, she turned to her friend, "My brother might have shot Agent Thompson"  
"Oh dear, that's not ideal" he shook his head  
"No" she sighed, "it's not"  
"What will you do with that knowledge?"  
"I'm not sure. I feel torn in two. On one hand, he might have been acting as an agent for Hydra, but a more likely scenario is that he was working for the SOE, as some sort of assassin. On the other hand, he's still my brother"  
"Whatever you do decide" Jarvis took her hand again, "we shall all remain by your side"  
"Thank you" she smiled briefly, "but I'm not sure you all feel that way" she glanced back toward where Daniel was talking with Violet  
"I'm sure Chief Sousa understands" Jarvis reassured her, "as for Ms. Violet, I feel that she may prove to be a keen ally"  
"I hope so" Peggy sighed

New York

"Vernon" Jack Thompson knocked on the office door  
"Come on in, Jack" Vernon answered  
"I just wanted to" Jack began. He stopped mid-sentence. Even though it had been over a year, seeing Vernon again, after his bout with Whitney Frost, left Jack with a shiver down his side. Vernon looked as though he'd been through a war, and perhaps he had. No one had thought he'd have survived the Zero Matter blast from Jason Wilkes, but when he showed up to SSR Los Angeles the next day, looking haggard but otherwise seemingly normal, there was little anyone could say to refute him.  
"I just wanted to ask you something about those files, the ones on Agent Carter"  
"Go ahead" he smiled, "have a seat"  
"I'm alright with standing"  
"Sit down" Masters was firm, "You know, Jack, when I went back to Washington, I found out that there are some very powerful people who would love to be able to take you places"  
"I'm doing fine right here"  
"Are you?" Masters leaned forward and appeared to care about Thompson  
"Sure" Jack nodded, "look, how bad has it been since – the papers" he faltered  
"Since you let someone walk off with classified information?" Vernon leaned back and pressed his hands together, his fingers forming a steeple  
"Since I was shot, and someone stole the papers while I was bleeding on the floor" Jack corrected him  
"Tomato, tomato" Masters pronounced the two words differently, "You know, maybe I was wrong. Maybe you would be better off here in New York, rather than in DC"  
"That works for me" Jack smiled, "and how long are you going to be in town?"  
"Oh, not much longer. It was nice for the SSR to let me use this office"  
"Sure" Jack smiled through gritted teeth, "it was mine until a few weeks ago", he thought to himself

Los Angeles

Minutes had turned to hours, though thankfully not days, and Peggy, as well as the rest of the group had worn tired. Jarvis was asleep on the waiting area bench, stalwart even in his rest, while Peggy had asked Angie and Rose to head home. There was little anyone could do right now, and forcing themselves awake would only prolong their distress. Daniel sat on the next bench, his arms folded, propped on his crutch, with his head resting on his arms. Only Peggy was awake, appearing composed, but frazzled inside.  
Finally, Dr. Choi emerged from the operating theater, looking suspiciously unbloodied. "Ms. Carter" he removed his surgical mask, "We've managed to remove the bullet, and the wound seems to be healing"  
"Thank God" she stood and smiled, visibly relieved  
"However, we found an odd puncture mark, located at the front of your husband's"  
"He's my brother"  
"Yes, on the front of your brother's skull"  
"His skull?" Peggy looked shocked and incredulous at the same time  
"Yes, located close to the hippocampus, in the frontal portion of the temporal lobe" he explained, "a nurse found it while administering the anesthesia. It appears to be a puncture wound, but it hasn't healed, and may have been self-inflicted"  
"If there were more self-inflicted injuries, you would want to keep him here, for his own safety"  
"Of course"  
"Doctor, I have to tell you something" Peggy sat back on the bench, and the doctor sat next to her, "my brother was going through a very difficult time" she lied, "and tonight, he – he shot himself"  
"Alright" the doctor replied matter-of-factly, "we'll keep him here for observation" he smiled briefly, to reassure her  
"When may I see him?"  
"Well, he's still under, but I suppose you can check on him if it would help you feel better"  
"Thank you" Peggy shook his gloved hand  
She followed him to the recovery room. Daniel walked behind her, but the doctor stopped him, "I'm sorry, family only"  
"I'm her fiancé" he explained  
"I'm sorry, but only the sister" the doctor was kind, but firm  
Daniel frowned, but Peggy patted his shoulder and then went into the room  
Michael lay on the hospital bed, and Peggy was struck at how much she was reminded of their childhood. They'd shared a room for quite a while, until, as she'd realized later on, puberty had struck him first, and then later, her. But for those years, they'd often tell stories at night when their mother, Amanda, had hoped they were asleep.  
It was now, watching him, seemingly asleep, on the bed, that Peggy was reminded of those childhood days, when she'd sometimes watch him sleep, after she'd woken up in the middle of the night.  
"Oh, Michael" she neared the bed, what's happened to you?" it was the first time she'd had to actually process her feelings, sadness, grief, shock, and something else that she couldn't quite describe, perhaps the fear of the unknown where he was concerned.  
Peggy smoothed out Michael's hair, the way she might have done for a sleeping child, and that was when she saw the hole that the doctor had mentioned. The hole was no bigger than the nib of a pen, and didn't look like it would close anytime soon. "Often times, earrings had left holes in one's earlobes, and if one didn't wear studs, the holes would close up" Peggy thought, "I wonder if this is something like that, but what would fit into such a tiny hole. I can't imagine that any key would fit. Why, it's no bigger than the head of a pin"  
Peggy stopped and stared at the hole. "No bigger than the head of a pin" she whispered. The idea struck her as if she'd been slapped in the face, "the Arena Club pin" the one that Jack had passed to her in the aftermath of the Isodyne Case, the one that had turned into a key of sorts by twisting the end of the pin.  
"Bloody Norah, it's not here" she frowned. The pin was safely tucked away in the evidence room at SSR headquarters. She'd have to go get it at a later date, and hopefully soon. "There's no telling what it might do if I'm right" she surmised, "but I've go to speak with Daniel about this" She turned to leave, but as she took a step away from the bed, a hand reached and took hold of her wrist. She turned back around quickly, "Michael" she realized that he was awake  
"Peggy" he smiled lazily, "Did you find it?"  
She frowned, "Find what?"  
"Your life" he had a sleepy grin on his face, "Your life of adventure"  
Peggy recalled what he'd told her at her engagement dinner when Fred had stepped away from the table,  
"I know you better than anyone else alive, and this isn't what you want: the same thing you've wanted since you were a little girl, a life of adventure."  
It seems that he did know her better than anyone else, even now, now that he'd come back to her.  
"Yes" she smiled, "I found my life"  
"That's good" he smiled and tipped his head backward on the pillow, then he closed his eyes. Apparently, the anesthesia wasn't done working its magic  
Peggy felt that this was a good time to speak with Daniel, so she slipped out of the room. Daniel, for his part, was sitting dutifully on a bench, waiting for her.  
"You didn't have wait here" she sighed, "nothing's changed so far. You could've gone home, and gotten some rest"  
Daniel looked up at her from his seat, "I'm with you until the end, Peggy" he softly mentioned.  
"I know" she swallowed some emotion, "thanks" she sat next to him  
"I've been a real jerk lately" he started  
"No, I've been thinking about Michael as if he's the same, and he's simply not, as much as I wish he was"  
"I shouldn't have put all those disturbing ideas on the table" he was slightly more emphatic  
She looked at him, the man she was going to marry soon, "Are we having an argument about whose fault it was, and yet we both think it was our fault" she smiled  
"Yeah, I guess so" a smile broke out on his face  
Daniel became serious, "I know you care about your brother" he placed his hand on hers, "I care about my family, too, and I can't imagine something like this happening to them" he interlaced his fingers in hers  
"And I understand your view that as much as I do love him, he was gone for so many years, and who knows what they've done to him"  
"Hydra?"  
"No, that's just it" she lowered her voice, "I have reason to believe that it was the SOE itself"  
"But they were disbanded"  
"Yes, but I'd called Jack and he remembered that much about the file, which I do as well, but confirming the information means that we have more than just my word on the matter. If the SOE has been turning soldiers into assassins, or anything else, we have something bigger than just my brother's safety"  
"What do you plan to do?" Chief or not, Daniel knew that Peggy was the best mind for the job  
"I wish I knew. Right now, I'd like to keep Michael safe, but if the SOE, or whoever is pulling these strings, arrives, we may have to do our share of bargaining"  
Daniel looked at her, speechless. He squeezed her hand  
"I know" she sighed, "besides, I have to get to SSR again. There's something that I have to pick up from the evidence lockers. It may be of vital importance in helping Michael"  
"Let's go" Daniel stood with the help of his crutch, "What about sleeping beauty over there"  
"I want to ride the pony" Jarvis mumbled in his sleep  
"Why don't you ask Violet to keep an eye on him, as well as Michael" Peggy was serious  
"I can't just do that"  
"Fine, then I shall" Peggy stood as well  
"Alright, I'll see what I can do"  
Daniel walked towards a nurses' station and soon found Violet, sitting on a chair, massaging her feet, her shoes lying askew on the floor  
"I, uh, need to ask you something?" Daniel began  
"First Jack, and now you?" she stared at him  
"Jack?"  
"He went back to New York the moment his wound was healed"  
"I'm – sorry" Daniel was quiet, "Look, Peggy's brother is really hurt bad and Jarvis is sleeping like a baby there, and I've got to go take care of some work at the office"  
"I am not babysitting him, or him" she glared  
"I didn't really want to ask you, and"  
"Then don't"  
"It's been over a year"  
"And that doesn't make it any less hurtful" she shook her head, "I'm glad you and Peggy have whatever it is that you have, but don't you dare think that I'll jump through hoops for you"  
By now, the other nurses had come to show support for one of their own. Three pairs of angry eyes stared Daniel down, besides Violet's own.  
"Right" he turned and left, "some request" he sighed  
"Sure" he lied, "let's go"  
"Splendid" Peggy took his arm and they left the hospital  
At the nurse's station, Violet sat back on the chair, slipped her shoes on, and stared blankly at the wall  
"What did he come around for?" another nurse leaned on the chair back  
"He was worried about his girlfriend's brother" she looked at her coworker  
"The gunshot wound?" she clucked, "the poor man"  
"He must be a soldier. Awful things happen to a man in the war" another nurse nodded  
"I suppose I could check to see that he's alright" Violet slowly rationalized  
"Don't do it for that cad, or his girlfriend, but do it for that poor patient who doesn't have anyone else right now" the first nurse chided  
"Fine" Violet stalked off to Michael in the recovery room  
"There" she checked his pulse, "you're fine"  
She nearly shrieked when he took her hand while she was taking his pulse  
"Hello" his British lilt tumbled out  
"Hello" she put on a practiced smile  
"I used to know someone like you" he gave a lopsided smile, "she was blonde also". The effects of the drugs were still working, "we were going to have a baby"  
"You're married?" Violet's curiosity grew  
"We couldn't" he looked away, only with his eyes, and then slowly trained them back on her, "she wanted a boy. I hope it's a boy. That would be lovely"  
"Another – Carter" Violet spoke her thoughts aloud  
"Yes, another Carter. To fight for the Queen" he looked up at the ceiling, closed his eyes and was asleep again

At SSR headquarters, Peggy rummaged through the folders in the evidence room, which was no more than a closet, "Where is that blasted thing?"  
"Looking for this?" a voice behind her spoke up


	8. Chapter 8

"Dr. Samberly!" Peggy shouted out of realization and anger, "What the bloody blue blazes are you doing here at this hour?"  
"Couldn't sleep" he shrugged  
"So you came into the lab in the middle of the night?"  
"Hey, you go on missions in the middle of the night"  
"Not because I can't sleep!"  
"Both of you" Daniel walked into the room, "keep it down. You'll wake the dead"  
"What exactly were you holding up that you thought I was looking for?" Peggy eyed Samberly  
"This" he had the Blitzkrieg Button in his hand  
"No" Peggy sighed sadly, "I wasn't looking for that" her mind flashed back to Steve, as she remembered him, as she wanted to remember him, strong, brave, courageous, when he leapt on what he thought was a live grenade to save her life, as well as the rest of the trainees that day  
"Don't worry" he grinned, "It's empty"  
"You- you opened it?" Peggy looked aghast  
"Well, no, but there was a note, and I just wanted to –"  
"Samberly" Daniel began, "why don't you let us work in peace, huh?"  
"Don't mind me" he smiled back  
Daniel hadn't smiled, and wasn't smiling now, "We do"  
"Here it is" Peggy had found the file containing information from the Isodyne case  
"Where's the pin?" Daniel looked over her shoulder  
"It's – it should be right here" she furrowed her eyebrows, "who could've moved it?"  
Peggy and Daniel looked at each other, "Vernon" they said simultaneously  
Peggy was on the phone in a matter of moments, "This is an emergency, I wish to speak to Vernon Masters of the War Department" she was firm with the operator  
While on hold, she glanced back at Daniel, "How did" she emphasize the second word, "the Blitzkrieg Button end up here? It was part of the evidence for Midnight Oil case"  
"Well" Daniel feigned innocent, "Stark had wanted it back and the SSR might have worked out some sort of understanding with him"  
"There was a note" Peggy glared at him, "Samberly said so"  
"Samberly says a lot of things" Daniel shrugged  
"I'm right here, guys" Samberly looked up from some paperwork  
"We know" Sousa nodded, he looked back at Peggy, expectantly  
"What do you mean he's not there" Peggy scowled at the unseen operator, "Fine, yes I bloody well do understand" she hung up  
"He's not in Washington" she informed Daniel, "and as for this" she glanced at the Button, "this needs to be kept safe, lest it falls into-" she'd lifted the spherical device and gone to place it back in its container, but stopped. There was indeed a note, just as Samberly had mentioned. Peggy placed the Button back into the box from which it had been removed and read the note aloud, "Retain this device until further notice. It is vitally important to the ongoing case regarding Agent - Carter" she looked up at Daniel, "this has your signature" she glanced at the note, "dated two years ago" she sighed, "right after you became chief here" she looked at him, slightly confused, "Why?"  
"Thompson was in charge in New York; he might've thrown it out; and Stark wanted to use the Button for who knows what, and I just wanted to keep it safe and from being used for something else, in case you – in case you wanted it, because of Captain America" Daniel couldn't look at her, and instead glanced around the laboratory, "I know how much Captain America meant to you"  
"Oh, Daniel" she moved closer, "Captain America was a public figure for the nation" she paused, "Steve Rogers meant a lot to me" she moved closer, "you mean a lot to me, Daniel"  
He smiled shyly  
She stared at him, "You didn't even know that I was coming to Los Angeles"  
"No" he shook his head, "I didn't, but I figured if I was keeping watch over it, nobody else would – well, break it" he glanced at Samberly  
"Don't look at me. I kept that thing safe" he grinned  
"Safe" Peggy repeated at looked at the file on the table, "suppose Vernon didn't take it, or if someone else had, not to use the Arena key, but to keep it safe?"  
"I'm in charge here" Daniel frowned, "and nobody is supposed to be allowed in the lab without an authorized personnel here also"  
"Why don't you just look at the logbook"  
"What was that, Dr. Samberly?" Peggy looked back at the scientist  
"The logbook" he repeated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "everyone has to sign in"  
"Who instituted such a policy?" Daniel asked gruffly  
"You did, Chief" the innocent reply came out of Samberly

New York

"Jack, you could've been something" Vernon stopped at the doorway  
"I am something, Vernon" Jack smiled grimly  
"Eh' Vernon carried his briefcase out the door  
Jack walked back to his office, sat down, leaned back in the chair and sighed, "Damn it, Marge was right" he spoke to no one, "maybe I am better than that"  
His eyes flitted to the new rotating index on his desk. The slotted cards could be spun around to find a name at a moment's notice  
Jack spun the wheel, past the Cs, the Ps, and Ms, and stopped on the Vs  
He had a call to make  
A call to Los Angeles

Los Angeles

"A log book" Sousa shook his head in dismay  
"Looks like you were right, Chief" Peggy smirked, fingering the name on the page  
"Katherine Hornstock?" Daniel frowned, "Who's that?"  
"I believe I know" Peggy sighed, "we've got to get back to the hospital, right now"

Sousa pressed the car's pedal to the floorboard, practically breaking traffic rules in order to get to the hospital  
"Daniel" Peggy began, "What time does Violet's shift end?"  
"Late at night, probably finished by now" Daniel didn't take his eyes off the road  
"Then we had best turn around"  
"What?"  
"Turn the car around. We shan't be going to the hospital"

Outside Violet's house, Daniel's car idled  
"Shut the motor" Peggy leaned over the driver's side window, "this may take time"  
"Are you sure you don't need me there, to talk to her"  
"It would be best if you stayed here, please" she forced a smile, "Darling"  
She turned and walked up the front steps to the porch  
After a few knocks on the door, Violet peered through a side window, and then opened the front door  
"Peggy?" she looked half asleep  
"I'm sorry for the intrusion, but I'll have to be blunt about this. I need that key"  
"Key?" she blinked  
"If I may?" Peggy entered the room and shut the door behind her  
"Peggy, it's the middle of the night" Violet cinched her robe tighter around her torso  
"Violet, I'm truly sorry to show up uninvited" Peggy sighed, "but this really is rather important" she didn't let Violet answer, and simply continued, "a while back, perhaps a week, perhaps earlier, you were at the SSR lab. We know because you signed in, but you used a name that nobody could possibly know, except Jack Thompson. Perhaps he said something to you, or he mentioned it in passing, but you had that name. I'm not sure why he asked you, or why you went along with it, but I'll need that pin back, please"  
"Jack – Jack called me up, a few months ago, and told me that he might know why the pin was important. Something about it being some sort of pick"  
"It's a key" Peggy explained, "and if I'm right, it might literally and figuratively be the key to saving my brother's life"  
"He's doing alright" Violet smiled briefly, "I checked on him"  
"Thank you for that" Peggy smiled, genuinely, "I know that everything that's transpired between Daniel and I hasn't been easy, and now Jack-"  
"Jack said that the pin was important, and that I needed to hold it, keep it safe, until he'd tell me what to do with it"  
"Violet, please" Peggy implored, "this truly is a matter of life and death. I'm not making this out to be any more than it actually is. You've seen Michael, you've seen how he is now"  
"I know" she replied softly  
Violet took a few steps away, where her nurse's uniform lay over a chair. She held the collar, flipped it over, and undid the pin from the underside of the collar. She looked at Peggy,  
"I never take it off my uniform, except for washing" she sighed, "to keep it safe for Jack"  
"Jack is a good man" Peggy nodded, "deep inside. And if he's the man that I think he is, he'll contact you, not for that pin, but for you"  
Violet didn't respond. She simply handed the pin over  
"I'm sorry" Peggy stood by the front door for a moment, "for everything"  
"I am, too" Violet finally spoke as Peggy left the house

"What happened?" Daniel stared at her when she sat in the passenger seat  
Peggy wore a pained expression on her face, "Everything" she held up the Arena Club pin

At the hospital, the room was quiet  
Peggy slipped next to Michael's bed. Her fingers grazed over his forehead. The pinhole, aptly named, was barely visible. Peggy fingered the pin in her other hand, and held it up to the puncture mark in Michael's forehead.  
They didn't match.  
She'd made a grievous error.  
"No" she frowned  
"What else could it fit into?" She furtively looked around the room. There were various medical machines plugged into the electrical sockets, and she could see the visible rise and fall of her brother's chest. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the room or the machinery that watched over his health.  
Peggy stood and walked back to the entrance. Her fingers brushed over the light switch, to turn it off.  
That's when she noticed it.  
The tiny, practically imperceptible hole on the switchplate.  
"If the Arena Club could control election outcomes, cause worldwide panic, what's a little electrical work?" she mused.  
Peggy slipped the Arena Club pin into the hole on the switchplate. It slid in easily, and when she turned the pin, the lights flashed in a sequence. The pattern wasn't unlike Morse code. On off, On off. On off.  
Then the lights remained on. Peggy glanced toward her brother.  
Michael's eyes snapped open  
Peggy backed away with a start  
"Agent MC0491" he spoke in a monotone voice, sitting up in bed.  
Peggy hesitated  
"Input mission" he stared at the ceiling  
"Mission?" Peggy repeated, not understanding what was happening  
She stared at him, "Who is your commander, soldier?" she put on a hard voice, "Are you Hydra?"  
"Negative" he didn't look at her, but stared straight ahead, "SOE. SOE Agent MC0491"


	9. Chapter 9

"SOE?" Peggy asked, repeated, not sure she'd heard him correctly  
"SOE Agent MC0491" Michael sounded like an automaton  
"SOE- Special Operations Executive—impossible" Peggy thought, "What would the SOE want with trained assassins? What would they want with robotic soldiers who went about killing people left and right?" Peggy shuddered, "this is like something out of Astonishing Stories" she stared at her brother, who was talking like some kind of machine, asking for a mission to complete  
Peggy thought on her feet, "You—you want a mission"  
"Affirmative" Michael's voice sounded like himself, his accent rang true, but still came out like a recording  
"Fine" Peggy straightened next to the bed, looking every inch the SSR agent that she was, "Here's a mission. You are on a peacekeeping mission from this moment on. I am your new commanding officer and you are to listen to me, and no one else" she paused, "Do you understand, Agent—agent"  
"Understood" the reply came back, monotone as ever  
"Alright" Peggy ran back to the light switch, grasped the key, turned it the opposite direction from before and removed it from the switchplate. The lights remained on.  
Michael blinked, "Peggy?" he looked at her, "Is it morning, already?"  
Peggy breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh Michael, you had me so worried. I need you to come with me"  
"Right now?" he glanced around, "I hope that dishy blonde nurse might pop in"  
Peggy frowned. Violet  
"We'll see where she is, how about that?"  
"Alright" he still sounded woozy, or at least suggestible  
Peggy took his hand, and guided him out of the room, still in his hospital clothes- basic plain pajamas. She glanced around and spied a coat on a bench, perhaps left by a visitor, and shoved it at her brother  
"Wear this"  
"Uh"  
"Do it"  
"I am your older brother" he corrected her  
"And you won't meet that blonde if you don't" she scolded  
Michael dutifully wore the jacket. The sleeves were too short, and it showed off his wrists like decorations, but it covered up part of his pajama shirt and pants. The pajama cuffs popped out from under the jacket arms.  
"We've got to get you somewhere safe" Peggy had an idea. She guided Michael out to the car, and settled him in the backseat. She sat next to him, instead of in the front with Daniel  
"We need to go to Howard's"  
"Anything else?" Daniel was sarcastic  
"Just drive, Daniel, please" she was firm  
Daniel did as he was told. Soon, the car stopped at Howard's mansion  
Peggy and Daniel bundled Michael, still in his pajamas and the stolen coat, into the foyer. Ana met them almost immediately, "Thank goodness you're back" she smiled, "Would you care for some tea, Ms. Carter?"  
"Maybe later" Peggy smiled back, "We've got to speak with Howa—Mr. Stark"  
"Of course" Ana left to fetch him. Within a few minutes, Howard rounded the corner, looking sleep deprived, but oddly alert  
Peggy stared at him, wondering how he was so chipper at such a late hour  
Anticipating her question, Howard grinned, "Jarvis makes a mean coffee"  
Upon hearing his name, Edwin Jarvis appeared dutifully, "Sir?"  
"Not now" Howard waved him away  
"I'm glad you managed to arrive home safely, Mr. Jarvis" Peggy nodded at her friend  
"Thank you, Ms. Carter" Jarvis smiled politely, "Ms. Violet made sure that I got to my car after my—shall we say, nap"  
"Splendid" Peggy smiled, "Howard" she turned to her friend, "we need your help"  
She quickly explained, as best she could, about Michael's apparent SOE connection and the figurative and literal key that seemed to unlock his hypnosis  
"Follow me" Howard turned and headed down the hallway, "I may have something that might assist you"  
Peggy and Daniel followed, bringing Michael in tow. They reached Howard's lab, and it was that that he finally explained things.  
"I've been working on this idea for an anti-brainwashing machine" he pointed to what looked like an upside down cooking colander with a chin strap attached  
"What on earth is that?" Peggy looked aghast  
"That's it" Howard beamed  
"I hardly think that will do the task at hand"  
"Nonsense Peggy" Howard scoffed, "It'll be fine"  
"It shall be fine?" Michael repeated  
"Sure it will" Howard took Michael's words as a question  
"What about this?" Peggy fingered an open notebook that was lying on the table  
"That?" Howard frowned, "nothing conclusive yet"  
"A—hypercube?" Peggy read  
Howard sighed, "This" he held up the notebook with a number of equations and a drawing of a cube within a cube, "is a hypercube" he explained, "that we found while searching for" he paused, "Captain Rogers' jet"  
Peggy swallowed back some emotion and let Howard continue  
"It was partially buried and it took some effort to get it out" he showed them another page of the notebook, "it appears to be a source of unlimited power" he went on  
"If anything shall help Michael, this should be it" Peggy spoke firmly  
"How will it do that?" Daniel looked confused  
"Do you know what the Red Skull was using to power his gizmos?" Howard eyed her  
"Steve—Captain Rogers never mentioned that to me" Peggy's cheeks colored briefly  
"As far as I can tell" Howard continued, "This thing, the cube, was some sort of energy source, but—and it's a big but—if it could be used to open up a portal or change someone's brain structure, maybe it would get your brother back to where he belongs"  
"Do it" Peggy was firm  
"Uh—we don't know if it'll actually work" Howard hesitated  
"Do it" Peggy repeated, staring at him  
"But Peggy"  
"Bloody Norah!" she shouted, "Howard, just do it. He's my brother, for God's sakes, and I want him back, as soon as bloody possible"  
"Fine" Howard turned back to his notes, "here we go" he moved his fingers over some calculations  
"You know" Daniel started, "it might help if we could figure out what was going on inside Michael's brain before we tried changing things" he motioned to the device that resembled a colander  
"Fine idea" Howard agreed, taking a step away from the notes  
"Howard" Peggy frowned  
"I understand" Howard smiled, "if it was my brother, I'd want to help him first, but maybe your boyfriend has an idea here"  
"Because he's a man?" Peggy was sarcastic  
"No" Howard spoke slowly, "Because if we go around playing with someone's memories, we might inadvertently hurt your brother more than we might help him"  
"I know that you want to help Michael" Daniel looked warmly at her, "I do, but I also know that maybe we should go about this slowly, and not let emotions cloud our judgment"  
"Cloud my judgment?" Peggy stared at him, "with emotions? I suppose the way you did when you told Jason Wilkes where the uranium was held"  
"He would've shot you"  
"But your emotions played just fine into that scenario"  
"What did I do wrong here? Earlier you said that I couldn't possibly know how you feel. Maybe I don't, but I sure as hell don't want to hurt Michael any more than he already is"  
"Fellows" Michael glanced at Howard and Daniel, "I'm still right here"  
The moment was eerily like the one with Samberly earlier  
"Fine" Peggy finally replied, appearing under duress, "we'll take thing slowly. Howard, start that pasta straining machine of yours" she eyed the contraption warily  
"You called it an anti-brainwashing machine" Daniel ventured  
"Actually" Howard answered, "it's a brain wave analyzer, capable of being able to read the participant's thoughts"  
"Lovely" Michael smiled  
"Um, yes" Howard looked absently at Michael Carter  
"Let's begin" Howard hooked up two probes to Michael's temples, and ran long wires from the probes to the device, which as Peggy had derisively noted, indeed looked like an overturned colander, except that the device was now visibly bore flashing lights, glass tubes adorning the edges, and what looked like an adding machine built onto the front  
"This" Howard donned the helmet and fitted the chin strap on, "should help us see what exactly is going on"  
"Why didn't-" Peggy began  
"Why didn't I mention this earlier?" a twinkle was in his eye, "None of us has any way of knowing what was going on a mere few hours ago"  
Howard pressed a few buttons on the adding machine. It was then that Peggy noticed that the numerical keys were positioned upside down, and that the tape dispenser was flipped around so that the tape would fall in front of Howard's eyes, so he could read the typed information before anyone else could  
"Let's begin" Howard started, "Michael, can you tell us what you remember after you were left – err"  
"England?" Michael prompted  
"Yes" Howard nodded  
"I had been to Peggy's engagement party and we'd had a bit of a row over her fiancé, Fred" he turned to his sister, the wires on the probes tightened as he moved his head.  
"You might want to face me" Howard suggested  
"Right" Michael turned back, but continued his question to Peggy, "You didn't marry the bugger, did you?"  
"I—no, no, I didn't" Peggy answered  
Michael exhaled with relief, "I left Hampstead – the boys came and we took a lorry to Burtonwood"  
"One of the RAF – Royal Air Force- stations that was close to us" Peggy supplied  
"We were put in- sent to battle- to the front lines immediately" Michael went on, "Fighting the- what do the Americans call them- Gerry Bastards, I believe"  
Daniel nodded in agreement  
"You were captured?" Howard asked, checking the readouts as he questioned Michael  
"I don't—I don't recall"  
"I'm getting that you were" Howard continued, "that you were held down, against your will"  
"Well, I'm not-" Michael started  
"By your commanding officer"  
"Howard" Peggy interrupted, "we know some information already"  
"Ah ah ah, Peg" he held up a finger, "I'm making headway here"  
"Are you?" she frowned  
"Wait a minute" Daniel interrupted  
Peggy shot him a withering look  
"What if he's telling the truth" Daniel went on, "Peggy, you thought that the SOE might be controlling him. What if they were, or still are?"  
Peggy looked horrified  
"It's a theory" Daniel shrugged, "but it would make sense. If Howard is talking about a commanding officer, it might really mean someone in charge, but maybe not what you or I'd call a commanding officer"  
"Let's keep trying" Howard interjected  
"Good idea" Daniel nodded. He turned to Peggy, "Come with me"  
"I really don't think that this is the time or place"  
"Just come with me" he didn't let her finish  
Reluctantly, Peggy stood and walked with Daniel. They reached the doorway. Daniel pointed to the locking mechanism,  
"If you put in a key into the door, and turn the key, the door locks"  
"Of course" she stared at him in anger  
"If you remove the key, it's still locked"  
"Get on with it" she was impatient  
"The same action unlocks the door" he let the words play on her mind  
"The key" she realized, "oh, of course, why didn't I realize that?"  
"He's your brother" Daniel smiled at her, "if it was my brother, I'd be too close to see it"  
"Turning the key" she realized his point, "locks him into whatever has happened to him. It starts that sequence of lights"  
"And even if you removed the key from the fixture, he'd still be there" Daniel finished her thought, "Right?"  
"Yes, the lights flashed in the hospital room, and he was- turned on, and then off, so to speak"  
"Ok, then we're on the right track" Daniel nodded.  
"So now that the key is out, he's himself, I hope" she mused aloud, "There have to be more switchplates like that, scores of them"  
"Maybe" Daniel nodded, "but I think we're out of the water for now"  
They walked back to where Howard and Michael were conversing. Michael leaned forward and was answering a question, apparently,  
"No no, I never liked him much"  
"She was too good for him, huh?" Howard grinned  
"Quite so" Michael grinned  
"Ah here she is, our Peggy" Howard looked up. Michael turned back around as far as he could, with the odd helmet still strapped to his head  
"Who's too good for who?" Peggy asked good naturedly  
"You" Michael came pat with a reply, "for that tosser, Fred"  
Peggy colored at the mention of Fred Wells' name  
"Nevermind that" she pushed past the emotion, "It seems that we've figured a way to handle this issue, for the time being"  
She went ahead to explain what Daniel and she had spoken about, to Howard and Michael.  
"Well, I guess we can remove this" Howard unstrapped the helmet from Michael's head, "I'll have to see if these answers mean anything" he motioned to a notebook on his desk  
"What about that hypercube you'd mentioned" Peggy made note of something he'd shown her earlier in the notebook  
"I think we can relax tonight" Howard leaned back in his chair, "its way past you kids' bedtimes, and if you're not careful, the boogeyman might show up"  
Nobody laughed  
"Well, I'm going to sleep" Howard yawned and got up  
Peggy took Michael's hand and led him towards the entrance to the lab. Daniel followed behind.  
"Are we out of the woods yet?" Daniel asked Peggy, as they made their way up the stairs  
"Let's see what tomorrow brings" she smiled back at him


	10. Chapter 10

New York

"Hello?" Jack Thompson hesitantly spoke in to the receiver. This wasn't his style at all, and yet he was scared out of his mind. Maybe it was time to stop running. Maybe  
"Yes" the reply came after an immeasurably long time, or so it seemed, at least to Jack  
"I—I'd been meaning to call you"  
Silence  
"I shouldn't have just left so abruptly like that, before"  
"No, you shouldn't have" her response was clipped  
"I'm not really good at saying things like this, and I'm not sure where to go from here" he paused, not for effect, but for lack of words  
"You know what you need to say, Jack"  
"Yeah" he sighed  
Silence  
"I'm – sor"  
The phone clicked on the other end  
She'd hung up  
"Sorry, Violet" Jack sighed into the empty receiver

Washington DC

"What do you mean you can't find it?" Vernon Masters barked into the telephone receiver  
He paused as he listened, impatiently, to the response  
"That isn't good enough" he snapped  
Masters put the receiver down and fumed. He shoved his hand into his pocket and began fingering the small metal pin that lay there.

Los Angeles

The next morning, Peggy blocked her eyes against the harsh eastward sun. It would be the worst of clichés to say that this ordeal felt as though it had been a dream, or rather a nightmare, but oddly enough, that was how she felt. Peggy rolled over in bed, greeted with a stare from the painting of Howard that hung on the wall  
"Isn't it just like you to watch me while I sleep" she quipped at the painting  
She'd have rather woken up next to Daniel. In fact, it was something that they both would've preferred to their current arrangement.  
"I want to make an honest woman out of you" Daniel had half-joked to her, weeks ago, before all of this had happened. That seemed like ages ago, now.  
She sighed in relief. She hadn't been plagued by some other woman pretending to be Peggy Carter. Somehow, being back in touch with Michael had caused those visions to disappear. Thankfully. Blessedly.  
Peggy exited her room, padded down the hallway in her printed robe and sleepwear, toward the sound of voices that were already coming from another bedroom. She pressed on the already ajar door, and peered in on a scene that had her absolutely gobsmacked.

New York

There were no two ways about it; Jack knew what had to be done. He had to make things right, not for his sake, but for hers.  
"June" he dialed the new switchboard operator, "Hold all my calls, and while you're at it, I need a ride to the airport"  
"Right away, Chief" the redhead smiled from her station in front of the telephone exchange

Los Angeles

"What in the bloody blue blazes are you all doing?" Peggy braced her hands on her hips, looking like a schoolmarm  
"Oh, you're up" Daniel grinned  
"Glad you could join us!" Howard appeared glad to see Peggy  
The men were crowded around Michael, who sat on the edge of the bed, still wearing a borrowed set of pajamas from Howard. His hair was pulled away from his forehead, and Daniel, Howard and – Peggy stared- Jason Wilkes were looking her brother up and down as if he was a sideshow exhibit.  
"Jason" Peggy walked into the miniscule throng of testosterone, "How long have you been here"  
"Since Howard called me up" Jason was fully dressed, while Daniel and Howard were both somewhere between being ready for bed and ready for work  
"What's going on?" Peggy didn't like to be kept out of the mix  
"I found this amazing piece of information" Howard began  
"Your bath is ready" Jarvis emerged from the bathroom, proper as always, "Oh Ms. Carter, how good it is to see you this morning"  
"Jarvis?" Peggy frowned, "Bloody Norah, what is this, a regular boy's club?"  
"Sorry about that, Peg" Howard grinned, "we didn't want to wake you"  
"Now that I'm awake, what could you obviously not wait to find out" she stared at her friend  
"I was reading this – one moment" Howard flipped through pages in a book, "In 1938, Karrer, Fritzsche, Ringier, and Salomon became the first to synthesize alpha-tocopherol, the main biologically active form of vitamin E"  
"What does this have to do with my brother"  
"Peggy" Daniel started, "he's got that wound" he was quiet about it, "We need to find a way to make it heal fast"  
She realized immediately, "to close it off, lest someone try to – to" she couldn't finish the sentence  
"Yeah" Daniel agreed, "It's definitely got something to do with that light sensitivity you were talking about  
"Recently" Howard went on, not listening to them, "Vitamin E was labeled a "chain-breaking" antioxidant for its role in hindering the chain reaction induced by free radicals, and it is known to protect cutaneous cell membranes from peroxidation."  
"Fine, but you've got to apply that knowledge" Peggy sighed  
"We're working on it" Jason explained, "Ana and I have been working on a solution that would help Michael's wound heal much faster"  
"And Edwin and Mr. Stark have been looking into that Morse code that was done with flashes of light" Ana explained.  
Peggy looked at her friends. They'd all banded together to help her, and Michael, "I simply can't believe that you've all done so much" she looked from Daniel to Howard, to Jason, to Jarvis, "I can't thank you all enough"  
"Nonsense, Peg" Howard waved it off, "you'd have done it for any of us"  
"You're right" she smiled, "I would've", she sniffed back some emotion, "but you've gone and given me back my brother, and I can't say thank you enough"  
"Enough of all this" Michael spoke up, "You've got a wonderful lot of friends" he turned and looked at his sister, "and this one" he meant Daniel, "I like him"  
Peggy knew exactly what Michael meant. It was a direct reference to what he'd said about Fred at her then-engagement party  
"I do, too" she smiled, at Michael, and then at Daniel.  
Jason looked on for a lingering moment, and then went back to his work with Howard  
Ana entered the room and the conversation shifted in turn, "Wonderful, Darling" Jarvis smiled at his wife. He walked forward and took the vial from her with one hand, and took her hand with the other. They squeezed hands momentarily, and she stood beside him as he handed off the vial to Howard.  
Jason and Howard bent their heads together over some notes and glanced back at the vial.  
"I couldn't have done this without you—your help" Howard stared at the paperwork, but meant Jason Wilkes  
"Likewise" Jason nodded

Washington DC

Vernon Masters yanked open one of his desk drawers. Under the piles of paperwork, he pulled out the file that he'd kept safe from prying eyes.  
The redacted file on M. Carter  
"Who said 'kill'? That would be wrong, both morally and strategically. Killing makes her a martyr, shines more of a light on her. I need you to destroy the very idea of her, discredit, disgrace and subdue Agent Carter so all this misguided work that she's done becomes unquestionably invalid!" Masters had instructed Jack Thompson at Chadwick's campaign's Congressional fundraising party. When the redacted file had shown up, it was practically a godsend, but now that Masters had had time to read it, things hadn't added up.  
"This isn't right" he frowned "All that work, everything, just for a sheaf of papers that don't make sense" it had become painfully obvious that it wasn't Margaret Carter that the file spoke of. Masters rifled through papers on his desk. The answer was just out of reach.  
He opened another file, "Ice Cream Soldier" the project name for the plan to turn unknown combatants into killing machines. "Ingenious" Masters smiled at his own work, "Taking nobodies and making them into perfect soldiers" he turned a page in the file, "men that nobody wanted, nobody knew about, let alone who they were, and giving them new life" the file pages described the process, soldiers found on battlefields across Europe had been carted back Stateside, once the US was booming again, and work could be done quietly. "For every Josef Mengele, there's a Johann Fennhoff, trying to help the world" Masters shook his head, "let those eggheads do their work, their experiments. In time, we'll bring the world what it deserves. Order, precision, and control"  
He turned another page in the file, and was greeted with a photo of MC0491, the first success after a series of failures. "Well, this was a success, until it went AWOL" he exhaled and slashed across the page with a black pen.


End file.
